Jim Thome homered in the 15th inning to pass Mickey Mantle on the career list and give the Chi cago White Sox a 7-6 victory over the Los Angeles Angels that extended their AL Central lead last night.

Thome's 537th home run came off Justin Speier (1-8) and put him in sole possession of 14th place. The White Sox moved 2½ games in front of second-place Minnesota with their third consecutive victory and second in a row over the Angels in this showdown of division leaders.

The White Sox have their biggest lead since a three-game cushion on July 26. And they won again without slugger Carlos Quentin, who is scheduled for surgery tomorrow on his broken right wrist and could miss the rest of the season.

Angels ace John Lackey failed to protect a 5-2 lead and Francisco Rodriguez blew a 6-5 advantage in the ninth after Brandon Wood homered in the top half against Bobby Jenks.

Thome drove an 0-1 pitch well beyond the right-field wall with one out in the 15th for his 30th homer this season. It was his 11th career game-ending homer and the fifth for the White Sox this year.