Monthly Archives: August 2010

Cubs drop another to Giants, off to St. Louis

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SAN FRANCISCO—Pat Burrell homered twice before Torres’ bases-loaded single in the bottom of the ninth inning bailed out a bullpen that blew a four-run lead in the Giants’ 8-7 victory over the Cubs on Thursday.Burrell hit a grand slam and solo home run and Pablo Sandoval also homered to snap a drought of 178 at-bats without a longball before Torres ended it with his third game-ending hit of the season.Aaron Rowand led off the ninth with an infield single against Andrew Cashner (1-5) and went to second on a sacrifice by Freddy Sanchez. After Aubrey Huff was intentionally walked, Cashner walked Buster Posey unintentionally to load the bases.Torres, held out of the starting lineup for the first time since July 15 before of tightness in his legs, then hit a drive to center that landed on the warning track and bounced over the fence for the winning hit.Brian Wilson (3-1) pitched a hitless ninth for the win.Now the Giants can turn their attention to the NL West-leading Padres, who have won seven of eight head-to-head meetings between the teams this season. But the Giants are a very different team than the one that last played the Padres in May.The biggest difference is the presence in the lineup of rookie Buster Posey, who is hitting .335 since being called up from the minors May 29, and Burrell, who has 10 homers in 154 at-bats since joining the Giants on June 4.San Francisco can take over first place in the NL West by sweeping the three-game series at home beginning Friday.Burrell gave the Giants a 7-3 lead with a grand slam in the fifth off Randy Wells. But the Cubs worked their way back into the game after Cain left.Kosuke Fukudome hit an RBI double in the seventh off Chris Ray before Chicago scored three times in the eighth to tie it. Blake DeWitt started the rally when he drew a leadoff walk from Javier Lopez. Guillermo Mota allowed a single to Jeff Baker and an RBI double by Koyie Hill to make it 7-5.Sergio Romo entered with runners on second and third and no outs and got pinch-hitter Alfonso Soriano on an infield popup and Tyler Colvin on an RBI groundout. Starlin Castro then tied the game with an RBI single past a diving Sandoval at third base for his fourth hit of the game.But the Cubs were unable to add another run and lost for the 14th time in 17 games.Cain matched a season-high with nine strikeouts in six innings, but was not as dominating as usual against the Cubs. Cain had allowed just one run in his past 30 innings against the Cubs, throwing 23 straight scoreless innings since new teammate Mike Fontenot hit an RBI single against him Aug. 23, 2007.Cain couldn’t make it out of the first inning unscathed this game, giving up a two-run double to Xavier Nady that put the Giants in an early hole.Wells’ RBI double in the fourth made it 3-1 before the Giants tied the game on the consecutive homers by Burrell and Sandoval.The Cubs dropped three of four in this series, losing them all by one run. The Cubs are 13-29 in one-run games this season, the most losses in the majors.”It’s not tough, it’s just not fun at all,” outfielder Marlon Byrd said. “You get sick and tired of losing. One run games, 10 run games, it just gets old.”

NOTES—Aramis Ramirez missed his second straight game with a sore left rib cage…..Derrek Lee will fly to St. Louis with the team and be activated from the bereavement list Friday…..Lou Piniella is also expected to rejoin the team in St. Louis.

Sox beat Twins, regain share of A.L.Central lead

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John Danks pitched eight sharp innings and the White Sox beat Minnesota 6-1 on Wednesday night to move back into a first-place tie with the Twins in the AL Central.Carlos Quentin homered in his second straight game while helping the White Sox draw even again after being knocked out of first place for the first time since July 10 with a 12-6 loss to the Twins on Tuesday.They fared better this time after dropping four of five, with a rare victory over a team that had won 18 of 23 against them.Danks (12-8) allowed one run and six hits. Quentin hit a two-run shot in the second off Glen Perkins (0-1) that made it 2-0, and the White Sox continued to pile on from there, taking advantage of two throwing errors that helped set up runs on their way to an easy win.Alex Rios singled in a run in the third, and the White Sox broke it open with three more in the fifth on an RBI single by Juan Pierre, an RBI double by Alexei Ramirez and a throwing error by shortstop J.J. Hardy.That was enough for Danks, who kept the Twins in check after they got five homers from five different players in a game for the first time since May 2, 1992. He is 5-1 in his last seven starts.The Twins got two hits apiece from Michael Cuddyer and Joe Mauer, who has 27 in his last 50 at-bats after going 2 for 4. Otherwise, it was a painful night for Minnesota. Perkins got knocked out in the fifth in his first start since Aug. 2, 2009, and the injuries piled up for the Twins.Hardy got lifted for a pinch-hitter in the top of the seventh after experiencing pain in his left wrist, the same one that has sent him to the disabled list twice this season. And reliever Jose Mijares injured his left knee in the eighth. He expects to have an MRI on Thursday or Friday, and manager Ron Gardenhire said he will probably go on the disabled list.Mijares had just come in to start the eighth when he landed awkwardly covering the bag on Quentin’s leadoff single to first.He raced over and pulled up as first baseman Cuddyer dived for the base. The pitcher fell to the ground, clutching his knee, stayed down for a few minutes and then jogged toward the outfield and back before being removed.For Perkins, it was simply a rough night. Called up from Triple-A with Kevin Slowey nursing a sore elbow, he lasted just 4 2/3 innings and allowed five hits and six runs while hitting Quentin twice.Things got particularly ugly in the fifth, when Pierre singled in Omar Vizquel after fouling a squeeze off Mauer’s left leg. Ramirez followed with an RBI double off the left-field wall and came around with two outs when Hardy bounced a throw to first after fielding Paul Konerko’s grounder, making it 6-0.Perkins then hit Quentin for the second time, leading to a warning from plate umpire Mike DiMuro and the hook from Gardenhire. He brought in Ron Mahay, who retired A.J. Pierzynski on a grounder to short to end the inning. Guillen said if Quentin was hit purposely, the order wasn’t coming from the Twins’ bench. 

NOTES—Gordon Beckham was back in the White Sox’s lineup after missing two games with a strained right groin….Andruw Jones was scratched because of a sore back….Hardy doesn’t expect to miss much time….Gardenhire said after the game that reliever Jon Rauch is day to day after spraining a toe on Tuesday. 

Cubs fall to Giants on late Burrell homer

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SAN FRANCISCO—Pat Burrell hit a go-ahead solo homer in the eighth inning after an earlier two-run single, Aaron Rowand also homered and the San Francisco Giants beat the Cubs 5-4 on Wednesday night.Burrell also made a perfect relay throw from left field that saved an early run for the Giants, who finish this series Wednesday before a weekend showdown with the first-place San Diego Padres.San Francisco remained 2 1/2 games behind San Diego in the NL West after the Padres beat Pittsburgh.Rowand’s 10th homer of the year, which came in the sixth, gave him seven straight seasons with double-digit home runs.Burrell has been quite an addition since joining the Giants on June 4. Over his last 15 games, he is batting .356 with 10 of his 16 hits going for extra bases. That includes three home runs. His eighth homer of the year leading off the eighth came off Justin Berg (0-1).Burrell, 33, feels rejuvenated with the Giants after a disappointing start with Tampa Bay.Sergio Romo (5-3) recorded five outs for the win, while All-Star closer Brian Wilson pitched the ninth for his 33rd save in 36 opportunities. Wilson and San Diego’s Heath Bell share the major league lead in saves.Marlon Byrd and Tyler Colvin each hit solo homers for the Cubs, with Colvin’s seventh-inning drive tying the game.Blake DeWitt cut his upper lip when he crashed into Giants catcher Buster Posey in the second on the play started by Burrell on Welington Castillo’s double. Castillo got a hit in his major league debut and first at-bat.Barry Zito gave up a season-high 10 hits in 6 1/3 innings. His winless stretch extended to five straight starts despite being staked to a 3-1 lead. The lefty has only one win in 11 starts since June 12, going 1-4 during that stretch with six no-decisions, including three straight.This game marked only the third time during the stretch that the Giants backed the 2002 AL Cy Young Award winner with more than three runs.Tom Gorzelanny allowed eight hits and four runs over six innings. He struck five but left with a no-decision for the second time in three winless starts following a season-high four-start winning streak.The Cubs scratched third baseman Aramis Ramirez about an hour before the first pitch with a sore left ribcage. Jeff Baker started in his place.The Giants acquired infielder Mike Fontenot from the Cubs before the game, so all Fontenot had to do was walk between the two clubhouses and switch uniforms. He was available off the bench for San Francisco. 

NOTES—Giants OF Andres Torres stole third for the sixth time this year, most in the NL. … The Cubs announced that John Grabow is done for the season. Already on the DL since June 29 with a sprained left knee, the pitcher tore the medial collateral ligament while on a rehab assignment in the Arizona League. He is scheduled to meet Monday with the team orthopedist in Chicago to discuss his options, and surgery is possible. The hope is that Grabow will be ready for the start of spring training 2011. He was 1-3 with a 7.36 ERA in 28 appearances this year. … The Giants activated INF Eugenio Velez from the DL and optioned him to Triple-A Fresno. Velez was struck on the head July 25 by a foul ball while in the dugout against Arizona. … The Cubs still don’t know how long Derrek Lee will stay on the bereavement list. He has been spending time with his ill grandfather in his native Sacramento and can’t play before Friday. 

Freddy gets fingered as homer happy Twins beat Sox 12-6

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For the first time since the day before the All Star break,the White Sox are in second place. Freddy Garcia was throwing up batting practice and the Minnesota Twins obigued him with five homers and went on to rout the Sox 12-6. Scott Baker had all the run support he needed. The Twins started quickly with back to back doubles by Orlando Hudson and Joe Mauer in the top of the first to take a 1-0 lead,and had it not been for a nice grab by Paul Konerko on Denard`Span’s lead off liner,it may have been worse since the visitors left two runners on base. After the Sox failed to score against Baker(10-9)in the bottom of the first, Garcia was lit up in the top of the second. Former teammate Jim Thome hit his 579th career homer.One out later, former Brewer J.J.Hardy lifted his 5th of the season into the Twins bullpen.Span next singled,and with two gone,Mauer crushed one the opposite way into the left field seats to make it 5-0. The Sox got three back with one swing by Alex Rios in the bottom of the second after singles by Konerko and Alexi Ramirez. His three run homer into the Minnesota pen cut the Twins lead to 5-3,but Garcia(10-5)did not survive the top of the third. Jason Kubel led off with a single and took third one out later on Thome’s double into the RF corner. Tony Pena relieved Garcia and Danny Valencia greeted him with a sac fly to CF making it 6-3. The Twins added a pair in the 4th on Michael Cuddyer’s double which scored Delmon Young and Kubel. Each team scored a pair in the 6th. The Twins got a two run blast from Cuddyer and the Sox an RBI single by Mark Kotsay and a sac fly off the bat of Ramirez leaving it 10-5 Minnesota.Kubel added a two run blast off Scott Linebrink in the Twins 8th.Baker left after the sixth,giving way to Matt Guerrier who pitched the 7th and 8th and Jon Rauch who pitched the 9th and gave up the Sox final run.
NOTES—Attendance was 30,900 with many empty seats in the upper deck…..John Dan ks(11-8)faces Glen Perkins(0-0)in Wednesday night’s game…This was the Sox second loss in their last 15 games at home…..Juan Pierre had his 16 game hitting streak snapped.

LES

Cubs get to Lincecum, beat Giants 8-6

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SAN FRANCISCO—Starlin Castro drove in three runs, Kosuke Fukudome homered and the slumping Cubs battered San Francisco ace Tim Lincecum in an 8-6 win over the Giants on Tuesday.Ryan Dempster pitched into the seventh inning for his second straight win while Aramis Ramirez added three hits for the Cubs,who ended a season-high six-game losing streak on the road. It’s only the Cubs’ third win in their last 15 games.Lincecum, the two-time reigning NL Cy Young winner, lasted just four innings and gave up six runs, including Fukudome’s two-run homer in the first. Over his last five starts San Francisco’s ace is 1-2 with a 5.40 ERA.The Cubs dropped the first game of the series in extra innings, but scored four runs in the first off Lincecum (11-6) and never looked back. The Cubs had scored just 10 runs in its previous four games before breaking out against the Giants.Castro had an RBI single in the first then hit a bases-loaded single in the fourth to drive in two more.Fukudome’s 10th homer of the season, a two-run shot on the first pitch he saw, landed in the waters of McCovey Cove and gave his team a 4-0 lead. It is the first time in Lincecum’s career he has allowed more than three runs in the first.Dempster (10-8) nearly let it all slip away, albeit with help from the Cubs’ defense which committed errors in the first two innings. The Giants benefited and scored an unearned run in the first then pulled within 4-2 on Travis Ishikawa’s RBI single in the second.Lincecum settled down briefly but ran into trouble again in the fourth when he gave up a pair of singles and a walk to load the bases. Castro, who had an RBI single in the first, followed with a two-out single to center to drive in Koyie Hill and Dempster, making it 6-2.For Lincecum it was another in a series of disappointing outings this season. He allowed six runs and eight hits in four innings and lost consecutive-starts for the third time this season. San Francisco’s ace altered his delivery in July in hopes of changing his luck but has had limited success since.The Giants fell 2½ games behind San Diego in the NL West. San Francisco also dropped into a tie with Cincinnati for the NL wild card lead.Dempster gave up eight hits in 6 2/3 innings and settled down after a rough start. The right-hander retired 14 of the final 18 batters he faced and left after giving up a two-out single to Emmanuel Burriss and walking Aubrey Huff. eliever Andrew Cashner gave up Buster Posey’s long fly ball to center that glanced off Tyler Colvin’s glove for a double. Burriss and Huff scored, cutting the gap to 6-4, but Cashner struck out Pat Burrell to end the inning.Pinch-hitter Mike Fontenot hit a two-run double off Guillermo Mota in the eighth to increase the Cubs lead to 8-4.Chris Marmol made it interesting in the ninth when he gave up four hits, including an RBI double to Posey. Pablo Sandoval also drove in a run with an infield single but Marmol struck out Juan Uribe and got Ishikawa to ground out.NOTES—Posey finished with three hits and four RBI. … As expected, the Cubs placed Derrek Lee on the bereavement list. They also put Geovany Soto on the 15-day DL and recalled IF Micah Hoffpauir and C Welington Castillo from Triple-A Iowa. Hoffpauir and Castillo arrived at the ballpark less than two hours before the 7:15 p.m. start. …Lou Piniella, who is away from the team while attending to family matters, is expected to rejoin the team on Friday according to bench coach Alan Trammell. … San Francisco grounded into two double plays and have 10 in its last five games. Overall the Giants have hit into 115 twin-killings, second-most in the majors behind Minnesota. … Aramis Ramirez recorded his 1,000th career RBI in the first inning when he singled in Starlin Castro. … Dempster’s single off Lincecum in the fourth was his sixth hit this season. He had eight for all of 2009. … The six earned runs allowed by Lincecum are the second-most he’s allowed in one game during his career. … Giants SS Edgar Renteria left the game with a strained left bicep.

 

Cards and Reds empty benches as St.Louis wins again

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CINCINNATI—From their first-inning scrum to the final out, the St. Louis Cardinals sent a message: Don’t demean the defending champs. Not without expecting a fight.Yadier Molina jawed with Cincinnati Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips in the first inning Tuesday night, sparking a benches-clearing fight, and the Cardinals followed their catcher’s lead to an 8-4 victory that moved St. Louis back into first place in the NL Central.When it was over, there were cuts and scrapes and a sense that the Cardinals had gotten the better of it all.
“I know our guys,” manager Tony La Russa said. “This is not the first time that we’ve been challenged. You just go up and down our roster — we’ve got a bunch of guys that are very tough characters. Like I say, there’s times that you beat us, we’re not good enough. but you’re never going to scare us and we’re never going to back down.”
The fight brought out their best.St. Louis has won the first two games of the showdown series between teams locked in a tight race since May. The Cardinals moved a season-high 14 games over .500 and a few percentage points ahead of the Reds, who had led the division for the last eight days.The defending champions improved to 9-5 against the Reds this season, the only team in the NL Central that has beaten them so thoroughly.

“They’re in first place, but we showed we’ve got good talent and we’re going to compete,” Molina said. “We did today. We battled.”

By contrast, the Reds responded to the dustup with one of their worst games, committing three errors and managing only six singles.

“I don’t think it’s a big mystery that there was some tension before the game,” third baseman Scott Rolen said. “I was tired before my first at-bat. I won’t get into specifics about it. It was two teams defending their own people. It got ugly.”

It all started with Phillips.The second baseman opened the series by saying he hates the Cardinals and calling them complainers. Reds manager Dusty Baker wished he hadn’t said it, and had a talk with Phillips before the game on Tuesday.Then, Phillips caught grief from the Cardinals.He dug in to lead off the bottom of the first and tapped his bat on Molina’s shin guard in a friendly gesture. Molina was taken aback.

“The comment he made yesterday that he’s got no friends over here – then why you touch me?” Molina said. “You are not my friend, so don’t touch me. I mean, if we’re no good for you, you are not my friend.”

The exchange turned angry. Phillips took off his helmet, Molina removed his mask. Both benches and bullpens emptied.La Russa and Baker talked animatedly in the middle of the crowd. Rolen — a former Cardinal — went after St. Louis pitcher Chris Carpenter, who beat the Reds 7-3 in the series opener on Monday night, trying to be a peacemaker. That, too, escalated.Carpenter ended up pinned against the backstop screen. Cueto also ended up against the screen, furiously kicking away St. Louis players. Catcher Jason LaRue got kicked in the head — La Russa said he had a slight concussion — and Carpenter had several long, raw scrapes across his lower back and his right side.

“I turn around and I’ve got Cueto kicking me in the back with his spikes,” Carpenter said. “It’s super unprofessional. I don’t know where he learned how to fight.”

Cueto said he was trying to protect himself.

“I was trying to break it up,” Cueto said, with catcher Ramon Hernandez translating. “The next thing I know, 15-20 people were around me. I was up against the net. When 15 people are around you, you get scared. I had my back to the wall with my feet up.”

The altercation lasted seven minutes. Play resumed and Phillips grounded out.Molina hit a solo homer off Cueto (11-3) in the second inning and later added a sacrifice fly. Matt Holliday broke the game open with a bases-loaded single in the seventh, one of his four hits.Rookie left-hander Jaime Garcia (10-5) beat the Reds for the third time this season, giving up four runs in 5 1/3 innings. Ryan Franklin retired Phillips, the only batter he faced, on a routine grounder with two runners aboard, ending the game for his 20th save in 22 tries.

Sky beats Phoenix for first time, still barely alive

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Chicago Sky
ROSEMONT—Sylvia Fowles had 24 points and 14 rebounds and the Sky rallied to beat the Phoenix Mercury 91-82 on Tuesday night.The Sky (13-17) remained 4 1/2 games behind Washington for the last Eastern Conference playoff berth.The Sky, which trailed by as many as 11 in the third quarter, put together a 17-2 run in the fourth to beat the Mercury for the first time in nine tries.Diana Taurasi had 28 points and Penny Taylor added 14 for Phoenix (14-15).Epiphanny Prince had 16 points for the Sky who still need a big time maricle to make the playoffs for the first time ever.
 
 

 

Cubs lose to Giants in eleven, Zambrano walks seven

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SAN FRANCISCO—Carlos Zambrano matched his career-high with seven walks in his first start since a June 25 dugout blowup and ensuing banishment, and his short-handed Cubs lost to the San Francisco Giants 4-3 in 11 innings Monday night long after he left the game.Pat Burrell hit a game-ending sacrifice fly off loser Marcos Mateo (0-1), who made his major league debut after being called up earlier in the day.Edgar Renteria led off the 11th with a single and Aubrey Huff’s single moved him to third. Mateo then intentionally walked standout rookie Buster Posey to bring up Burrell.Chris Ray (5-0) recorded the final out of the 11th for the win.Burrell had his first game-ending RBI of the season and the 10th of his career. It was his first ever via sacrifice fly.San Francisco’s Travis Ishikawa was thrown out at the plate in the 10th trying to score from first on Andres Torres’ double to the deep corner in right.The Cubs lost their fourth straight and season-high sixth in a row on the road. They last dropped six straight away from Wrigley Field from June 10-25, 2009.Zambrano returned to the rotation for the first time in six weeks since exploding in the dugout and getting into it with teammate Derrek Lee. Zambrano made three relief appearances since coming off the restricted list late last month after undergoing anger management therapy during his month away.Alfonso Soriano hit a first-inning RBI double and Marlon Byrd singled in a run that inning as the Cubs gave Zambrano an early boost.Posey hit an RBI double in the fifth for the Giants, who also pushed across another run on a wild pitch by Zambrano who was was in position to win after Tyler Colvin gave the Cubs a 3-2 lead on a sixth-inning single, but the Giants tied it in the bottom half on an RBI single by Torres.Zambrano was suspended June 26, a day after he got into a verbal altercation with Lee. The two exchanged words in the Cubs dugout after Zambrano was pulled from his start after allowing four runs in the first inning against the White Sox.He was on a pitch count of 75-80 and already had 69 pitches through four inning. Zambrano wound up at 95 pitches, only 49 strikes.Lou Piniella missed the game to be in Tampa, Fla., with his ailing mother. There is no timetable for when Piniella might rejoin the club.In addition, Lee left the team to travel to his native Sacramento to be with his ill grandfather. The Cubs expected to know more late Monday about whether Lee would return for Tuesday night’s game or perhaps need a stint on the bereavement list.Scouts were out in force at AT&T Park to see Zambrano’s return and evaluate whether he could help a contender if the Cubs decide to let him go. He only hit 90 mph on the radar gun a couple of times, regularly throwing 86-88.Zambrano yelled at himself when he escaped a second-inning jam in which he walked three before striking out leadoff man Torres to get out of it unscathed.Colvin’s two-out single chased Giants starter Madison Bumgarner.He had lost his previous two starts following a four-start winning streak, but Bumgarner didn’t get a single run of support from the offense in 10 innings over those past two outings.Geovany Soto was a late lineup scratch by the Cubs because of a sprained right shoulder ligament. He missed his third straight game. Soto tested his shoulder, which bothers him only at the plate, during early batting practice and was fine but during later warmups experienced some discomfort.Koyie Hill replaced Soto.

NOTES—Giants INF/OF Eugenio Velez began full baseball activities for the first time since being struck on the head July 25 by a foul ball in the dugout against Arizona, and is scheduled to begin playing in rehab games later this week. … Zambrano is 5-1 in 10 career outings and nine starts vs. San Francisco. … Giants LHP reliever Jeremy Affeldt, on the DL since July 24 with a strained left oblique muscle, will throw the third bullpen of his rehab on Tuesday. Affeldt will mix in curveballs this time. “I will know tomorrow where I’m at,” he said. … The Giants celebrated “Jerry Garcia Tribute Night” with a concert by Grateful Dead tribute band before the game. Members of the actual band sang the national anthem. Former Dead drummer Mickey Hart led fans in “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” played on kazoos during the seventh-inning stretch, trying for a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

O’s beat Sox again on Roberts bomb in 10th, now tied with Twins for first.

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BALTIMORE — Brian Roberts hit his first home run of the season leading off the 10th inning, and the Baltimore Orioles continued their uncanny run of success under new manager Buck Showalter with a 3-2 victory over the White Sox on Monday night.Baltimore is 6-1 since Showalter made his debut last Tuesday. Earl Weaver is the only other manager in the history of the Orioles to win six of his first seven games.After sweeping three games from the Los Angeles Angels, the last-place Orioles took three of four from the Sox, giving them successive series wins for the first time since July 2009. The homestand was Baltimore’s best since it went 7-0 against Seattle and Texas from Aug. 3-9, 2004.Roberts’ drive came on the second pitch from J.J. Putz (5-3). Roberts, a two-time All-Star, missed much of the season with a bad back before returning from the 60-day disabled list on July 23.Matt Albers (4-3), who worked out of a jam in the top of the 10th, got the win.Paul Konerko hit a ninth-inning homer for the White Sox, who fell into a first-place tie with Minnesota in the AL Central. The White Sox and Twins open a three-game series at U.S.Cellular Field on Tuesday night.Konerko, who earlier made a costly mental mistake in the field, hit the first pitch from closer Alfredo Simon into the left-field seats to tie it at 2. The Sox eventually got the potential tiebreaking run to second base with one out before Mike Gonzalez retired the side.Konerko’s 28th homer was a redemptive shot, because his mental lapse in the sixth helped Baltimore take a 2-1 lead.Down 1-0, the Orioles took advantage of two White Sox mistakes to score twice against starter Edwin Jackson.After Ty Wigginton homered, Luke Scott singled and advanced when third baseman Dayan Viciedo botched a grounder. A single by Felix Pie loaded the bases for Matt Wieters, who hit a hard grounder to Konerko at first. Instead of trying to double up the slow-footed Wieters, Konerko tagged first and threw home too late to get the sliding Scott.Orioles rookie Brian Matusz allowed one run and three hits in six innings. Since Showalter took over, Baltimore starters have pitched at least six innings in seven straight games and have registered a 1.89 ERA.Koji Uehara worked two perfect innings, setting the stage for Simon’s fourth blown save in 21 tries.The White Sox went up 1-0 in the third when Matusz hit Juan Pierre with a pitch on an 0-2 count and yielded a two-out RBI double to Alex Rios.

  

NOTES—Pierre extended his hitting streak to 16 games, tying a career-high. … Seventeen of Wigginton’s 18 homers have come against RHPs. … Konerko’s 28 homers matches his total from last year. … The Orioles are 1-8 on Mondays this season. 

Sox escape with comeback win over O’s

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BALTIMORE—Buck Showalter’s unbeaten run with the Baltimore Orioles is over, and the veteran manager found no consolation watching his last-place team put up a good fight against the AL Central-leading White Sox.Gavin Floyd allowed two runs in seven innings and Carlos Quentin homered in a 4-2 victory Saturday night.The Orioles had won four straight since Showalter made his debut on Tuesday, matching the longest winning streak of the season of the team with the worst record in the majors. Baltimore bolted to an early 2-0 lead in a bid to make it five in a row, but the margin failed to stand up.It was Showalter’s first loss since Oct. 1, 2006, with the Texas Rangers.After Quentin’s 22nd homer in the fourth inning, the Sox added single runs in the seventh and eighth against reliever Jason Berken (3-3) before scoring an unearned run in the ninth.Floyd (8-8) gave up six hits, walked two and struck out five to win his third straight start. The right-hander is 6-1 with a 1.17 ERA in his last nine outings.Matt Thornton worked the eighth, his 21st consecutive scoreless appearance, and J.J. Putz got three outs for his third save. Putz was used by manager Ozzie Guillen instead of his usual closer, Bobby Jenks, who is 0-2 with a 10.56 ERA since the All-Star break.Baltimore was held hitless after Felix Pie singled with no outs in the fourth inning — the fifth straight hit off Floyd.The Sox went up 3-2 in the eighth when Juan Pierre hit a leadoff single, took second on sacrifice bunt and scored when Alex Rios snapped a 4-for-37 skid with a single.Baltimore starter Kevin Millwood allowed four hits in six innings and left with a 2-1 lead. He had yielded five runs in each of his previous five appearances and hadn’t given up only one run in any start since April 11.Berken promptly gave up the advantage, however, in the seventh. After Alexei Ramirez drew a two-out walk, A.J. Pierzynski followed with an RBI double.Pierzynski hurt his left ankle on third base while advancing on the throw to the plate.Baltimore went up 1-0 when Adam Jones led off the second inning with his 16th home run, the first allowed by Floyd in 12 starts since June 2.The Orioles added a run in the third, but a baserunning error cost them a chance for more. After Nick Markakis hit a two-out double and scored on a single by Ty Wigginton, Luke Scott followed with a single. Wigginton headed for third, second-guessed his decision, went anyway and was thrown out to end the inning.Millwood pitched a scoreless first, no small feat considering he allowed at least two first-inning runs in 11 of his previous 12 starts.The exception occurred in the fourth, when Quentin hit a solo shot to center on a 3-1 pitch. It was the AL-high 24th homer allowed by Millwood.

NOTES—Pierre has hit in 14 straight games….Orioles C Matt Wieters has thrown out three would-be stealers in the last two games.Baltimore’s Cesar Izturis was 0 for 3. His next hit will be his 1,000th.