Chi. White Sox 4, Minnesota 3
When: 8:10 PM ET, Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Where: Target Field, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Temperature:
77°
Umpires:
Home -
Mike Muchlinski, 1B -
Fieldin Culbreth, 2B -
Lance Barksdale, 3B -
Adrian Johnson
Attendance:
36424
By SportsDirect Inc.
White Sox 4, Twins 3: A.J. Pierzynski hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning, spoiling a strong outing from Minnesota's Nick Blackburn and helping visiting Chicago avoid its third straight loss and preserve its slim lead in the American League Central.
Francisco Liriano gave the White Sox a solid effort in his Chicago debut, allowing two runs on four hits over six innings. He struck out eight and kept his former team off the board until the sixth, when Minnesota rallied to take a 2-1 lead without hitting a ball out of the infield.
The White Sox tied it on Alexei Ramirez's looping RBI single to left field in the seventh, and Pierzynski turned on an 0-2 slider from Jeff Gray (5-1). It was Pierzynski's 18th home run, tying the 15-year veteran's career high.
Minnesota pulled within 4-3 on Denard Span's RBI single in the ninth against Addison Reed, who retired the next two batters to preserve his 17th save. Matt Thornton (3-6) pitched a perfect eighth for the win.
The Twins wasted one of Blackburn's best starts in what has been a disastrous season. Blackburn allowed just two runs on five hits over eight innings, his longest outing of the year.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Minnesota's Ben Revere singled as a pinch hitter in the ninth to extend his hitting streak to a career-best 14 games. … Span went 4-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to nine contests. … Chicago's Adam Dunn snapped an 0-for-11 skid with a single in the eighth. … White Sox LHP John Danks will have season-ending surgery on his left shoulder Aug. 6. The 27-year-old was 3-4 with a 5.70 ERA in nine starts this season.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
| Chi. White Sox |
|
Minnesota |
|
Francisco Liriano
|
Player |
Nick Blackburn |
|
No Decision |
W/L |
No Decision |
|
6.0 |
IP |
8.0 |
|
8 |
Strikeouts |
2 |
|
4 |
Hits |
5 |
|
3.00 |
ERA |
2.25 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
| Chi. White Sox
|
7 |
1 |
11 |
.212 |
6 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Minnesota
|
7 |
0 |
7 |
.206 |
22 |
9 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
0 |
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