CINCINNATI (AP) -- The offense has slowed down but the Chicago White Sox have kept winning. Credit James Baldwin and the rest of their pitching staff.

Jose Valentin and Greg Norton homered Monday night and Chicago's bullpen had just enough to close out Baldwin's solid start for a 4-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

	Baldwin

After scoring a major league record 181 runs in April, the White Sox have slowed down at the plate but held onto first place in the AL Central. They've owned or shared first for 49 consecutive days now.

"When you blow people out, it's not as much of a test as these close ones," said Paul Konerko, whose pinch-hit RBI single in the ninth provided Chicago's final run. "That's a credit to our pitching, really."

Baldwin (9-1), off to the best start by a White Sox pitcher since he won nine of his first 10 decisions in 1996, turned a 3-0 lead over to the bullpen with one out and two on in the seventh.

Pinch-hitter Dmitri Young had an RBI double off Kelly Wunsch and Benito Santiago drove in another run with a groundout off Bobby Howry. Keith Foulke pitched two innings, giving up a solo homer in the ninth to Sean Casey, as he converted his 12th consecutive save chance.

The White Sox improved to 8-6 in one-run games.

"You would hope it's a sign that they've learned how to win close ballgames," manager Jerry Manuel said. "It's easy to get an offensive outburst and coast. In the last few weeks, all of our games have been relatively close and guys are finding ways to win. Hopefully they've come of age."

The Reds couldn't build upon their three-game sweep of Minnesota because they couldn't take advantage of their few chances against Baldwin. The right-hander gave up seven singles, two by Ken Griffey Jr., and a pair of walks in 6 1/3 innings.

"Tonight was a little tough," Baldwin said. "I didn't have a good curve. I had a good changeup and sinker. With Cincinnati, those guys have a powerhouse and I just wanted to get it over and not try to do too much."

It worked. Baldwin escaped two-on threats in the first and the sixth by handling Dante Bichette, the Reds' hottest hitter with a homer in each of his previous four games. Bichette grounded back to Baldwin, who started a second-to-first double play in the first, then ended a sixth-inning threat by striking out.

"I wasn't believing the numbers when he came in here, but he's a different pitcher from what we've seen," Bichette said. "He was sinking and cutting the ball and not trying to blow it by hitters. He got me out three different ways."

Baldwin improved to 7-0 on the road with a 1.73 ERA. Heading into Monday's game, only Boston's Pedro Martinez's road ERA (0.51) was better.

Steve Parris (2-8) took his career-high eighth loss and remained winless since May 9 by giving up a pair of runs and three hits in six innings. Parris is 0-4 in five starts since his last win.

Ray Durham, who led off the first interleague game at Cinergy Field in 1997 with a homer, opened the game with a triple and scored on Valentin's groundout.

Valentin, in a 3-for-27 slump, led off the sixth with a first-pitch homer off Parris. Norton, only 4-for-24 in his last eight games, hit his first homer since May 17 with one out in the seventh off Scott Sullivan for a 3-0 lead.

Konerko had a pinch single in the ninth off Dennys Reyes for Chicago's final run. Konerko and Reyes came to the Reds together from Los Angeles in the 1998 trade for closer Jeff Shaw, and Konerko was traded to the White Sox later that year.

Konerko's grounder up the middle skipped off the glove of sliding shortstop Barry Larkin, who was trying to get in position to start a double play.

"I was thinking as I was running to first, 'What are the odds Larkin doesn't come up with it? Maybe 1-in-25?' I was definitely thankful," Konerko said. "That's usually a routine play for him."

Game notes
Frank Thomas, who sat out Sunday after playing the first 54 games, was back in the lineup at first. He went 0-for-2 with a pair of walks, extending his slump to 2-for-21. ... Baldwin also pitched in Cincinnati as part of that initial interleague series in 1997 and got his only major league hit. He was 0-for-3 Monday but reached when he struck out on a wild pitch. ... Reds RHP Osvaldo Fernandez will miss his next scheduled start in Cleveland because of a sore elbow, jammed when he hit a line drive Sunday. ... Griffey was 2-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts, leaving his average at .216. He's in an 8-for-54 slump.