DETROIT—The White Sox were trying to do something they hadn’t accomplished in nearly 60 years.Instead, they lost a game, some ground in the AL Central race and more players.The Sox, who started the day trailing the Minnesota Twins by 3½ games in the AL Central, already had Paul Konerko and Gordon Beckham sidelined by injuries. Then the White Sox lost starting pitcher Freddy Garcia and designated hitter Manny Ramirez to injuries during Tuesday night’s 9-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers. The White Sox were trying to win the first eight games of a road trip for the first time since 1951, when they went 11-0 on a four-city jaunt. Instead, they fell behind in the first inning Tuesday and never caught up, losing a chance to keep up with the equally hot Twins.The White Sox weren’t the only ones dealing with injuries during the game. Detroit first baseman Miguel Cabrera left the game after aggravating a shoulder problem. Home plate umpire Angel Campos needed attention after being hit by a foul tip in the eighth inning, but stayed in the game.Tigers manager Jim Leyland said he doubted Cabrera will play Wednesday, but isn’t sure on a timetable for his return.Justin Verlander (15-8) allowed one run in seven innings, walking one and striking out seven.Detroit rookie reliever Robbie Weinhardt made things more interesting with a double error in the eighth when he misplayed a grounder and then threw the ball into the stands. Then he knocked Ramirez out of the game by hitting him with a pitch — the second time Ramirez had been hit in the game — but got out of the inning with a double play.The Tigers broke the game open after Garcia was forced to leave with a stiff lower back. Garcia (11-6) allowed two runs in his two innings.In reliever Lucas Harrell’s first inning, the Tigers scored four unearned runs.Austin Jackson reached on first baseman Mark Kotsay’s fielding error and took second on a sacrifice bunt. After Johnny Damon struck out, the White Sox intentionally walked Cabrera.The move backfired, though, as Don Kelly and Brennan Boesch followed with RBI singles before Jhonny Peralta’s two-run double gave the Tigers a 6-1 lead.Harrell held the Tigers scoreless for the next three innings, but the Sox couldn’t take advantage against Verlander. Brandon Inge finished the scoring with a three-run homer off Carlos Torres in the eighth.Detroit took a 2-0 lead in the first on Damon’s first homer since July 28, but the Sox got a run back in the third on Omar Vizquel’s RBI single.

NOTES—The White Sox recalled Torres and INF Dayan Viciedo from Triple-A Charlotte before the game, bringing their roster to 32….Konerko (back) missed his third straight game while Beckham was a late scratch from the lineup after having more pain in his right hand….Cabrera’s intentional walk was his 29th of the season, the most since Frank Thomas was intentionally walked 29 times in 1995…..A.J. Pierzynski of the White Sox extended his hitting streak to 14 games…..Reliever Gregory Infante and pinch-hitter Brent Morel both made their major league debuts.

MINNEAPOLIS—Jim Thome has found a band of brothers in Minnesota. He’s showing off his big swing like the oldest sibling.Thome hit another towering homer, Delmon Young drove in four runs and the Twins beat the Kansas City Royals 10-3 on Tuesday night to take their largest AL Central lead in 10 days.Francisco Liriano (13-7) raised his second-half record to 7-0 in 10 starts, giving up seven hits and two runs in seven easy innings. J.J. Hardy had three RBIs for the Twins, who scored six times in the third against Brian Bannister (7-12) and moved 4 1/2 games ahead of the White Sox in the division race. “You hope the good times last as long as they can,” Thome said. The White Sox lost to Detroit 9-1, ending their seven-game winning streak. The Twins have won five straight, 10 of their last 12 and 33 of 45.

DETROIT—The White Sox keep finding ways to win.A.J. Pierzynski hit a go-ahead single in the 10th inning and finished with three RBI on Monday, and the Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 5-4 for their seventh straight win.The White Sox are still second in the A.L. Central, 3½ games behind the Minnesota Twins.Chris Sale (1-1) earned his first major league victory, finishing with 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.Jose Valverde (2-4) took the loss.Don Kelly homered and drove in three runs for Detroit.Manny Ramirez led off the 10th with a single and went to second when Ryan Raburn stumbled and booted the ball in left. Alejandro De Aza ran for Ramirez, and pinch-hitter Alex Rios hit a single one out later to send De Aza to third. Pierzynski followed with a looper into short left field on a 1-2 pitch to bring in De Aza and give the White Sox the lead.Alexei Ramirez’s two-out single in the eighth had tied the game at 4 for the White Sox.Detroit starter Max Scherzer was replaced by Phil Coke after Andruw Jones’ one-out single in the eighth. Coke got Pierzynski to fly out to the warning track in right and was replaced by Ryan Perry. Brent Lillibridge, running for Jones, stole second and Alexei Ramirez sent a liner into left-center to tie the game.The Tigers’ Brandon Inge hit a drive down the left-field line and into the stands with two outs and one on in the eighth that was originally called a home run. The call was overruled when replay clearly showed the ball was foul.Detroit took a 2-0 lead when the first three batters got hits, but Chicago tied it in the second on Pierzynski’s bases-loaded single.The White Sox went ahead 3-2 in the fourth on Juan Pierre’s two out, run-scoring single. They nearly added another run, but Tigers right fielder Brennan Boesch threw Mark Kotsay out at the plate as he tried to score from second on Omar Vizquel’s single.Miguel Cabrera led off with a single and Kelly drove Edwin Jackson’s next pitch into the right-field stands for his sixth home run, giving Detroit a 4-3 lead.Scherzer allowed four runs on nine hits in 7 1/3 innings, walking two and striking out six.Jackson gave up four runs on nine hits in 7 1/3 innings, walking one and striking out six.

NOTES—Vizquel passed Rafael Palmeiro for most games by a player born outside the United States (2,832)…..Paul Konerko sat out because of a stiff back…..Kelly made two outstanding catches in LF. He robbed Kotsay of a hit with a diving catch to his left with two on and none out in the second, and victimized Vizquel with his back to the diamond and running toward the left-field foul pole as he led off the third.

Geovany Soto showed his toughness and power, all in one day.Soto withstood a collision at the plate to prevent a run from scoring, then hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning to lift the Cubs over the Houston Astros 5-4 on Monday.Soto slammed a two-out solo shot off reliever Wilton Lopez (5-2) to snap a 4-all tie and cap a comeback. Four innings earlier, he was flattened at the plate by a charging Michael Bourn but held onto the ball and made the tag.Soto, hitting .284 with 17 home runs, said he wasn’t necessarily thinking about hitting a home run when he stepped into the box in the eighth at windy Wrigley Field.Marlon Byrd hit a two-run homer and Chicago got a useful outing from starting pitcher Casey Coleman, who lasted six innings. Coleman gave up eight hits and four runs — all in the second. Cubs reliever Andrew Cashner (2-5) pitched a perfect eighth for the win. Carlos Marmol handled the ninth and earned his career-high 28th save.Houston starter Wandy Rodriguez went seven innings, allowing four runs and eight hits while striking out six.The Cubs trailed 4-0 after 1½ innings but got three runs back in the third on Blake DeWitt’s RBI single and a two-run homer by Byrd. They tied it in the fifth when Jeff Baker lined a double down the left-field line to score Darwin Barney, who singled.The Astros batted around in the second, starting with Chris Johnson’s leadoff homer. He lined Coleman’s 1-1 pitch deep into the left-field bleachers for his seventh of the season.Matt Downs walked, Jason Castro singled and the runners advanced to second and third following an error by Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano. Downs scored on a wild pitch.Back-to-back singles from Jeff Keppinger and Hunter Pence brought home Castro and Bourn, who reached when he was hit by a pitch.The Cubs scored three in the third, with the big blow coming on Byrd’s two-out homer that also scored DeWitt. It was his first home run since Aug. 11 and his 12th overall.The victory was the Cubs’ fourth in five games. The Astros, meanwhile, came in with five wins in their last six games and still have an 8-5 edge over the Cubs in the season series.

NOTES—A strained right quadriceps kept Cubs 3B Aramis Ramirez out of the lineup. “They’re going to look at him later today. It’s a day-to-day type of thing,” Quade said. … Also out was rookie SS Starlin Castro, benched by Quade after he made a mistake in the seventh inning of Sunday’s 18-5 loss to the Mets. Castro lost track of the number of outs and failed to run out a grounder that ended up a double play.

BOSTON— If the White Sox end up winning the AL Central, Sunday’s victory may be a game that’s talked about as the key to their late-season run.Gordon Beckham’s bases-loaded walk with two outs pushed them ahead in a four-run ninth inning that lifted the White Sox to their sixth straight win and an improbable 7-5 comeback victory over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.The win completed a sweep of the three-game weekend series and came after the White Sox trailed 5-3 entering the ninth inning and had two outs. The White Sox remained 3½ games behind Central-leading Minnesota, a 6-5 winner over Texas.Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon (5-6) was one out away from the save, but Carlos Quentin’s bloop RBI double to center cut the score to 5-4 before Ramon Castro tied it with a single. Alex Rios walked leading off the ninth against Papelbon, stole second and scored when Quentin’s bloop fell in front of diving centerfielder Ryan Kalish and skipped behind him. Quentin was alert and went to second when it was left uncovered as the middle infielders had headed to the outfield. Castro’s liner to the right-center gap also fell in front of a diving Kalish.Papelbon walked Alexei Ramirez before Dustin Richardson relieved and walked Mark Teahen. Robert Manuel entered and issued bases-loaded walks to Beckham and Juan Pierre, making 7-5.The White Sox had comebacks in the final two games of a three-game sweep in Cleveland.Papelbon gave up four runs, two hits and two walks in 1 1/3 innings.Scott Linebrink (3-1) pitched one inning of relief for the win, and Matt Thornton got the final three outs for his sixth save.Victor Martinez had a two-run homer for the Red Sox, who lost both games of a day-night doubleheader by 3-1 scores on Saturday.Manny Ramirez, who went 3 for 8 on Saturday when the White Sox swept the twinbill, was not in the starting lineup, but was hit by pitch from Papelbon on the right arm pinch hitting in the eighth inning. He left the field for a pinch runner, trotting off to a chorus of mostly boos.Kalish broke up a possible inning-end double play on Jed Lowrie’s grounder with a take-out slide on second baseman Beckham before Martinez put Boston ahead 4-3 with his homer over the Green Monster seats against starter Mark Buehrle.Bill Hall’s run-scoring ground out had made it 5-3 in the eighth.The White Sox chased Josh Beckett in the seventh and scored two runs with only one infield hit to grab the 3-2 edge. Juan Pierre walked leading off and stole his major league leading 54th base. After Omar Vizquel popped out, Beckett fired widely into center for an error trying to pick off Pierre, who advanced to third. Alex Rios walked and Bard relieved, striking out Paul Konerko, before Rios stole second. Quentin then hit a hard one-hop grounder off Bard’s glove that caromed to the pitcher’s right. He recovered in time, but short-hopped a throw to first baseman Mike Lowell that bounced away as both runners came home.Beckett gave up three runs — one earned — on nine hits, walked two and struck out nine in 6 1/3 innings. Buehrle gave up four runs, 10 hits, striking out six and walking one in seven innings.The Red Sox took a 2-1 lead in the third when David Ortiz, just 3 for his last 25, lined a two-run double into the right-center field gap after Darnell McDonald and Jed Lowrie singled.Alexei Ramirez’s RBI single had given his team a 1-0 lead in the second.

NOTES—Konerko left the game with lower back stiffness…..Boston SS Marco Scutaro was out of the lineup and will have an MRI on Tuesday on his right shoulder…..Red Sox C Jason Varitek, on the DL since July 2 with a fractured right foot, is expected to start a rehab stint with Triple-A Pawtucket on Sunday night…..A male fan was taken from the stands by stretcher in the fourth inning. A team spokesperson said he was checked out by emergency personnel at the park and taken to a local hospital…..Rios stole three bases, giving him 32 and tying his career high from 2008 when was with Toronto.

Ruben Tejada hit his first major league homer and drove in five runs, Ike Davis also connected and the New York Mets erupted for 21 hits and pounded the Cubs 18-5 Sunday to avoid a weekend sweep.The Mets’ bats perked up for season highs in runs and hits even though David Wright got a day off and Jose Reyes was still nursing a strained right oblique. They scored five runs in the fifth, eighth and ninth innings while winning for just the second time in seven games.Tejada had a sacrifice fly in the second, a two-run single in the fifth, a homer leading off the seventh and bases-loaded walk in the ninth.The home run in the seventh hit the basket and initially was ruled a triple. He was standing on third when the call got changed, and at that point, Tejada had two words for the umpire: “Thank you.” Davis had four hits and drove in three runs while scoring three. He drove a two-run shot in the eighth for his 17th homer and second in as many games.Jonathon Niese (9-7) delivered a pair of RBI singles and more than made up for his struggles on the mound. He went six-plus innings, giving up five runs after allowing a combined 15 in his previous two starts, but helped himself with a big day at the plate.A .133 hitter entering the game, he chased Ryan Dempster (12-10) with an RBI single that capped a five-run fifth and turned a 4-2 deficit into a 7-4 lead.Aramis Ramirez hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs before leaving with a strained right quad before the top of the ninth. He’s day to day.Geovany Soto homered, but the Cubs lost for the fourth time in 12 games under interim manager Mike Quade.Touched for seven runs in a season-low three innings against Pittsburgh last week, Dempster was no better this time. He lasted just 4 2/3 innings and allowed nine hits and seven runs, three of them earned.The Cubs were leading 4-2 heading into the fifth when Angel Pagan led off by reaching on a two-base error, when Tyler Colvin dropped his liner to deep right after a long run, and the Mets wound up sending up 10 batters.Luis Hernandez, Carlos Beltran and Davis followed with singles as the Mets tied it at 4. After Mike Hessman walked to load the bases, Dempster struck out Lucas Duda and Josh Thole, but the Mets weren’t finished.Tejada hit a two-run single and Niese, who had singled in a run in the second, chased Dempster with another RBI base hit.

NOTES—-Mets ace Johan Santana was scratched from Tuesday’s start against Washington because of a strained left pectoral muscle. … Carlos Silva said doctors told him he should “feel like a new guy” when he starts Tuesday against Houston. Silva, 10-5 with a 3.92 ERA, has not pitched since Aug. 1 because of a heart problem.

NASHVILLE—It a battle of the only Private Schools from the Big Ten and SEC, Northwestern never trailed,and was able to hang on for a thrilling 23-21 win over Vanderbilt in the season opener. Dan Persa threw three touchdown passes after`Stefan Demos hit on an early field goal.This was far from easy.After Northwestern(1-0) won the coin toss and elected to defer, it looked like a mistake when Vanderbilt’s Eric Samuels broke a few tackles and took the kickoff 44 yards to his own 45. The Commodores then marched to the NU 33 where they were second and three,but two forced incompletions by Larry Smith forced a punt which forced the Cats to start at their own 11. QB Persa then took his team up field thanks in part to runs of 8,11,21 and 9 yards. But on a third and goal from the Vandy eight, Arby Fields was stopped for a loss to the nine and Demos kicked a 26 yard field goal for “first blood” and a 3-0 lead with 8:47 left in the quarter.The drive covered 80 yards in 11 plays. Demos’s kickoff was bobbled by VU’s Trey Wilson, they started at their own 7 and the Cats forced a ‘three and out’ and a Richard Kent punt to the NU 47. On the fourth play of the drive Persa hit Jeremy Ebert in stride for a 33 yard TD to make it 10-0.The Cats dominated most of the second quarter but a key mistake allowed Vanderbilt to get on the board with 2:19 left in the half as Persa was hit while being chased out of the pocket and had the ball knocked from his grasp, and John Stokes of Vanderbilt(0-1) recovered at his own 48. Just five plays later,RB Warren Norman broke a tackle and scored from the 4,but Ryan Fowler’s extra point try was wide right. The Cats had to punt and the Commodores took over at their 36 with :44 left and no timeouts,but a critical late hit out of bounds on NU’s James Kurzawski helped move the ball to the 22 and on the last play of the half Fowler hit on a 30 yard field goal to cut the Wildcats lead to 10-9 at halftime.

The score remained the same as Vandy was driving with their first possession of the third quarter when Smith overthrew his receiver and Justan Vaughn intercepted it at his own 28 and returned it to the 46. Persa then took the Cats 54 yards in 8 plays,capping it with a 9 yard TD pass to Drake Dunsmore in the near corner of the end zone to make it 17-9 with 5:03 to go in the third period. Vanderbilt answered with a 71 yard drive that the Wildcats appeared to have stalled,but on a third down, Smith was chased out of the pocket to his right and heaved one 36 yards to TE Brandon Barden,but Smith was stuffed on a two point try so it was 17-15 NU after three quarters. The Wildcats drove to the Vandy 9 where Demos tried a 26 yard field goal,but it was blocked by T.J.Greenstone who then recovered it. But after Fowler’s 46 yard field goal try for Vandy was wide left, the Cats took over,moved 71 yards in 9 plays with Persa play faking and hitting a wide open Josh Rooks for a 2 yard score,but the PAT never came off as the snap was poor. The Cats led 23-15 with 4:39 left. The Commodores responded with Zac Stacy breaking a 33 yard TD run with 2:25 left,but they again tried for two points and the snap got through Smith and the Cats fell on it, retaining a 23-21 lead and then running out the clock.

NOTES—Attendance was 37,210…..The Wildcats have their home opener against Illinois State in Evanston next Saturday at 11:00am.

LES

BOSTON—Gavin Floyd allowed five hits in six innings, Carlos Quentin hit a double and triple and the White Sox swept their day-night doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox with their second 3-1 win on Saturday.Floyd (10-11) allowed Boston’s only run of the second game on a single in the fifth inning by Marco Scutaro, who also drove in Boston’s only run of the opener. John Lackey (12-9) gave up just one run on two hits through six innings then was hurt by a throwing error by center fielder Ryan Kalish in a two-run seventh when the White Sox went ahead 3-1.Bobby Jenks got the save in both games, giving him 27 in 31 opportunities.The White Sox extended their winning streak to five games and gained a half-game in the AL Central. They trail division leader Minnesota, which beat the Texas Rangers 12-4, by 3½ games.Manny Ramirez, in his first games against his former team since joining the White Sox on waivers Tuesday, went 2 for 4 in the first game and 1 for 4 with two strikeouts and a soft lined single to right in his last at bat in the second.In the nightcap, Quentin led off the third inning with a triple before Ramon Castro struck out. Gordon Beckham grounded to first baseman Victor Martinez, who threw to catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia in plenty of time to get Quentin at home. But Quentin charged into Saltalamacchia without sliding, jolting the ball loose.Then in the fourth with runners at first and second and two outs, Lackey hit Quentin with a pitch. Home plate umpire James Hoye warned both benches and managers Ozzie Guillen and Terry Francona of Boston came out to talk with him. Lackey struck out Castro to end the inning then went to Quentin at first base, talked to him and patted him on the leg.Boston tied it 1-1 in the fifth when the first three batters reached base on a walk to Kalish, a single by Billy Hall and the RBI single by Scutaro.Lackey retired seven consecutive batters before running into trouble in the seventh. Mark Teahen started the inning with a single before Quentin doubled to deep left-center. Kalish ran the ball down then fired back to the infield. But it sailed halfway up the first-base line, forcing Saltalamacchia to run it down and allowing Teahen to score the go-ahead run.Castro’s sacrifice fly then made it 3-1.The Red Sox threatened in the eighth with runners at first and second and two outs, but Jenks came in and retired pinch hitter Darnell McDonald on a fly ball to center. In the opener, John Danks gave up one run on six hits as he improved to 2-2 in his last seven starts after winning his previous four. Sergio Santos worked the eighth and Bobby Jenks got the final three outs for his 26th save in 30 opportunities. Clay Buchholz entered the game with a major-league leading 2.21 ERA that rose to 2.25. He is 5-1 in his last eight starts.The White Sox took a 1-0 lead in the second when Konerko singled and took third on Ramirez’s single to right. A.J. Pierzynski grounded into a double play, but Konerko scored.Konerko started the fourth with a ground-rule double and moved up on Ramirez’s groundout to second. Then Pierzynski singled to center for a 2-0 lead.

NOTES—Paul Konerko’s 14-game hitting streak ended in the second game. … Kalish made seven putouts, three on fly balls by Konerko. … Lackey gave up one earned run after allowing five or more total runs in four of his previous six starts. He’s now 11-4 in night games. … Floyd allowed two runs or less for the 15th time in his last 17 starts but won for just the second time in five outings.

ST. LOUIS—Blaine Gabbert rallied Missouri from a 10-point halftime deficit with two touchdown passes and Carl Gettis made a leaping one-handed interception and downed a punt at the 1 in the fourth quarter of an opening 23-13 victory over Illinois on Saturday.T.J. Moe had 13 receptions for 101 yards and a touchdown, and the Tigers’ defense shut out Illinois in the second half. Kenji Jackson also intercepted Nathan Scheelhaase in the fourth quarter to help seal it for Missouri, which finished the neutral-site Arch Rivalry series with six straight victories.Mikel Leshoure had 112 yards on 20 carries for Illinois, coming off a 3-9 season. Scheelhaase, a redshirt freshman, was 9 for 23 for 81 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. He also rushed for 76 yards on 16 carries in his first career start.Missouri was a 12-point favorite and totaled 129 points the previous three meetings, but scuffled in the first half. Illinois controlled the clock for nearly 18 minutes and scored twice in the final 2:10 to take a 13-3 lead on A.J. Jenkins’ 10-yard catch and Derek Dimke’s career-best 52-yard field goal to end the half.Illinois was held to 85 yards and four first downs in the second half.Gabbert was 34 for 48 for 281 yards, 167 of them coming in the second half.Gettis leaped high to steal the ball away from Jenkins at the Illinois 45 early in the fourth quarter, halting Illinois’ first possession after Michael Egnew’s 6-yard catch put the Tigers ahead 17-13.After Missouri’s ensuing drive stalled, Gettis downed Matt Grabner’s punt at the 1. That led to a three-and-out for Illinois.Illinois took advantage of a terrible two-play sequence in the first half. A wide open Wes Kemp dropped a pass at the Illinois 25, a gain that would have been at least 25 yards, and Gabbert was sacked for a 14-yard loss to force a punt.Illinois’ last drive ended after Leshoure was ruled out of bounds on a potential first-down catch at the Missouri 46 after officials reviewed the play. Grant Ressel added a 35-yard field goal in the final minute.Missouri had 98 yards rushing without Derrick Washington, kicked off the team earlier in the week after being charged with sexual assault. De’Vion Moore had 78 yards on 16 carries.

SOUTH BEND—Dayne Crist threw for 205 yards and a touchdown in his first start, Armando Allen ran for a score and Notre Dame’s defense was solid Saturday in a 23-12 win over Purdue that gave coach Brian Kelly a victory in his Fighting Irish debut.Kelly came to South Bend after a successful run at Cincinnati where he led the Bearcats to 12-0 regular season a year ago. His goal was to win immediately and that’s what he did in his first game on a windy, sunny day at Notre Dame Stadium.Notre Dame led 20-3 after three quarters before Purdue rallied behind transfer quarterback Robert Marve, who got the Boilermakers back in the game with a 23-yard TD run early in the final period but was penalized for celebrating with a somersault.David Ruffer kicked three field goals for the Irish, including a 37-yarder with 4:30 left to restore the lead to 11.