CHICAGO — Brent Morel hit two homers and Paul Konerko had a grand slam, lifting the Chicago White Sox to an 8-1 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Thursday night.

Morel hit a solo shot off Indians starter David Huff (2-4) in the third and a three-run homer off Frank Herrmann in the seventh — both on the first pitch. It was Morel’s first career multi-homer game and his four RBIs were a career-high.

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Konerko’s 10th career grand slam tied Robin Ventura’s White Sox record and capped Chicago’s seven-run seventh.

Gavin Floyd struck out four and held Cleveland to one run and five hits in 5 2-3 innings. Matt Thornton (1-4) retired all four batters he faced, striking out three.

Huff gave up three runs and five hits in 6 1-3 innings, striking out five, as the Indians lost their fourth straight.

Both clubs were recently swept by first-place Detroit, giving the Tigers a commanding lead in the AL Central and virtually reducing this weekend’s series into a battle for second place.

Putting a further damper on a matchup that had lost its once-anticipated luster, a misty rain began to blow across the field during the top of the third and fell for much of the game.

The small, subdued crowd at U.S. Cellular Field saved its biggest cheers for Cleveland’s Jim Thome, whose RBI single in the first scored Asdrubal Cabrera for the game’s first run.

The White Sox honored Thome in a ceremony before the game in recognition of his 600th career homer, which he hit on Aug. 15. Thome, who played for Chicago from 2006 to 2009, also received a standing ovation before his first plate appearance.

Morel tied the game with a homer to left-center in the bottom of third. Later in the inning, Juan Pierre singled for his 2,000th career hit, also earning a nice ovation as he tipped his cap.

Pierre, 34, became the 268th big-leaguer to reach the milestone.

Despite holding the Indians to one run, Floyd fell behind a number of hitters working from a slippery mound, running up his pitch count. At one point in the sixth, he requested that the field crew come out and apply sand around the pitching rubber.

Floyd departed after throwing 112 pitches, giving way to Will Ohman, who got Thome on an inning-ending grounder with a runner on first.

Huff pitched into the seventh, when he allowed a walk and a single to begin the inning. He struck out Tyler Flowers before giving way to Herrmann, whose first pitch Morel hammered into the left-field bleachers.

Herrmann allowed a walk and a single before being replaced by Josh Judy, who hit Brent Lillibridge with a pitch and gave up Konerko’s grand slam. The White Sox scored seven runs on just four hits in the inning.

Notes

• White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said that RF Carlos Quentin (sprained left shoulder) will likely return to the lineup over the weekend.
• Cleveland rookie 2B Jason Kipnis, a Northbrook, Ill., native, singled in his first big-league game in his hometown. He was injured the last time the Indians were in Chicago.
• Indians manager Manny Acta said 1B Matt LaPorta would likely be back with the club in the “next couple of days.” The former first-round pick was sent to Triple-A Columbus on Aug. 29 after struggling to a .238 average in 97 games.
• Cleveland’s Jeanmar Gomez will square off against Chicago’s Mark Buehrle on Friday. Buehrle allowed a season-high eight runs in his last outing.

ELYRIA — Former Elyria Councilman Herman Larkins allegedly pointed a shotgun at his 42-year-old stepson early Thursday evening, according to an Elyria police report.

Larkins was arrested and charged with aggravated menacing, a first-degree misdemeanor, and domestic violence, a fourth-degree misdemeanor, in connection with the incident.

Larkins made an initial appearance Friday morning at Elyria Municipal Court. He pleaded not guilty to both charges and was freed on personal recognizance.

As a condition of his bond, Larkins is to have no contact with the alleged victim, Joseph Wisher Jr., and he’s not allowed to possess a firearm. Larkins’ bond may be reduced if he undergoes a medical and psychological evaluation, according to court records.

Wisher, an Oberlin resident, told police he went over to the Larkins house on Middle Avenue for dinner. He said that when he tried to sit down at the table, Herman Larkins, 79, asked him why he was going to move his things on the table without permission and “that he better ask permission to sit down,” according to the report.

Wisher is the son of Larkins’ wife, June Larkins, from a previous relationship, the report said.

Wisher told police he asked Larkins if he could sit down, then Larkins said, “Sit down and shut up.” After a few minutes, Wisher said he was leaving and told Larkins, “You can’t talk to me like that.”

Larkins then got up from the table and got what Wisher said appeared to be a rifle from a closet, then pointed the weapon at Wisher’s head and told him to get out, Wisher told police.

Wisher told police he thought Larkins was going to kill him.

“I was already walking out of the house anyway,” Wisher said in an interview. “No one deserves to have a gun pointed in their face.”
Wisher said he had not been threatening Larkins before Larkins pulled out the gun.

“His life wasn’t on the line,” he said. “I didn’t threaten him. I didn’t curse at him.”

A family friend who witnessed the incident first told police Larkins pointed the gun at Wisher, but then later said Larkins only pulled the gun out of the closet but did not point it at his stepson, according to the police report.

June Larkins, 77, said she didn’t see anything, but Herman Larkins said she had been in the room at the time of the incident, according to the report.

Herman Larkins told police he and Wisher had been “kidding around” about items on the table, but it turned into a “serious exchange.” Larkins said Wisher said, “Let me tell you something!” He then asked Wisher to leave, and when Wisher would not, Larkins said he got out the gun and asked him to leave again. Larkins said he never pointed the gun directly at Wisher.

In a phone interview Friday, Larkins said he was defending himself from “a smart-mouthed man who I told to leave.”

“And I never pointed the gun at him,” he said. “I was going to use the gun to hit him if he came at me.”

According to the police report, Larkins said the gun was loaded but the safety was on. Police confiscated two guns from Larkins’ residence: a .22-caliber rifle taken from the closet next to the dining room, and a .410-caliber unloaded shotgun, taken from upstairs.

Larkins does not have a recent criminal record, and Elyria police Lt. Andy Eichenlaub said Larkins has never been a suspect in a previous crime.

“The only time he’s been a suspect is this week,” Eichenlaub said.

Larkins, who represented Elyria’s 5th Ward from 1996 to 2007, has a pretrial hearing scheduled for Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. in Elyria Municipal Court.

Contact Kiera Manion-Fischer at 329-7123 or kfischer@chroniclet.com.

LORAIN — Police have arrested a man in connection with Thursday’s bank robbery in South Lorain.

Brendon Lieb, 22, from Lorain, was booked on robbery charges Friday, according to Lorain police Lt. Mark Carpentiere. Police responded to the robbery at the First Federal Savings Bank of Lorain at East 42nd Street and state Route 57 about 3:35 p.m. Thursday.
The robber did not display a weapon, according to police.

Carpentiere said officers recognized Lieb from a surveillance photo, and he was picked up on several unrelated warrants at his home on Meadow Lane, which is near the bank. Credit goes to officers Shawn Petty and Tim Thompson, Carpentiere said.

“They were the officers that developed information that led them to identify Lieb as a suspect in the bank robbery, then locate and arrest him on some outstanding warrants,” he said.

Carpentiere said Lieb got away with an undisclosed amount of cash and some of that money was recovered when he was arrested.

Contact Rona Proudfoot at 329-7124 or rproudfoot@chroniclet.com.

LORAIN — A robbery of the First Federal Savings Bank of Lorain at East 42nd Street and state Route 57 is under investigation.

If you know this man, please contact Lorain police at 204-2105.

No one was injured in the robbery, which occurred at 3:35 p.m. Thursday.

Police Detective Steyven Curry said the robber was a white man who didn’t display a weapon.

Curry provided bank surveillance photos of the suspect, a white man in his 20s with a chin-length brown wig and a beard wearing a black shirt. Curry declined to give additional details on the heist.

“We don’t want to put too much out until we get leads,” he said.

This is not the first time the bank has been robbed.

On June 2, Lorain resident Robert Cruz was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for robbing the bank on Nov. 2 and for the Nov. 10 robbery of the First Place Bank near the Midway Mall in Elyria.

While detectives interviewed tellers inside the building, frustrated customer Betty Coleman of Lorain, who arrived after the robbery, said she was unable to cash a money order.

She said she usually banks at the Oberlin Avenue branch, and the last time she visited the East 42nd Street branch was just hours before it was robbed that day, too.

“I don’t know what made me come here today,” she said. “I was just in a hurry.”

Anyone with info on the robbery can contact Lorain police at 204-2105.

Contact Evan Goodenow at 329-7129 or egoodenow@chroniclet.com.