Sox beat Tigers again to take early First Place.

 

 

 

  

Paul Konerko and the White Sox have left their struggles against the Tigers in 2011.Gavin Floyd overcame control problem to pitch six scoreless innings and Alexei Ramirez homered as the Sox beat Detroit for the second straight day, 5-1 on Saturday.Tyler Flowers and Konerko also homered for the White Sox, who won their fourth straight overall.The White Sox were 5-13 against the Tigers in 2011, including the last six meetings.The White Sox improved to 4-0 in the division. Floyd (1-1) pitched around three walks and three hit batters. He struck out six and allowed only three hits.Brennan Boesch homered in the eighth inning and Austin Jackson had three hits for the Tigers, who have lost three of its last four games.Tigers left-hander Adam Wilk, making first big league start, was hit in his pitching shoulder by teammate Prince Fielder’s foul ball while sitting in the dugout in the sixth inning.Wilk (0-1) left with a bruised shoulder but is expected to make his next start. He allowed two runs on three hits in five innings Saturday. He struck out four and walked one. Floyd loaded the bases in the second inning by hitting Delmon Young, walking Jhonny Peralta and hitting Andy Dirks. Floyd was able to recover by getting Ryan Raburn to fly out to end the inning. In the sixth inning, Floyd escaped trouble again. He allowed a leadoff a double to Jackson. After he struck out Boesch, Floyd walked Fielder and Young to load the bases. He then ended the inning by striking out Alex Avila.Ramirez homered on a 1-2 pitch from Wilk in the second inning to give the White Sox a l-0 lead.Flowers homered with two outs in the fifth inning. The ball landed deep into the left field seats. Flowers started at catcher to give A.J. Pierzynski a day off.Flowers said the calming influence of new manager Robin Ventura has been a factor in the team’s early success.Wilk had a 5.40 ERA with no decisions in five relief appearances in 2011. He was added to the rotation after Doug Fister was placed on the disabled list Sunday with a left rib muscle strain.Brent Morel led off the sixth inning with a double off Tigers reliever Collin Balester and Adam Dunn followed with an RBI double.Alejandro De Aza added an RBI triple in the seventh off Tigers reliever Daniel Schlereth and Konerko tagged Schlereth in the eighth for his first homer of the season to make it 5-1.

NOTES—The Tigers activated infielder Brandon Inge from the 15-day disabled list Saturday. He is expected to start at second base Sunday. Inge, who strained his groin during spring training, hit .197 with three homers and 23 RBIs in 103 games at third base last year. He grounded out in a pinch-hit appearance to end the game…..Raburn stole a hit from Ramirez in the fifth by making a sliding, over the head catch down the right field line.