KANSAS CITY—Gavin Floyd is healthy again and hoping to help the White Sox get back to the playoffs.Floyd pitched seven crisp innings, Alex Rios hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh and the White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 3-2 on Tuesday night for their fifth consecutive win.Alejandro De Aza and Gordon Beckham also went deep for the AL Central-leading Sox, who maintained a three-game advantage over Detroit and improved to 6-10 against the Royals. The Sox had lost seven of eight against Kansas City.Floyd (10-10) gave up two runs in the first inning and nothing after that. He allowed five hits, walked one and struck out three, throwing 52 strikes in 78 pitches.The 6-foot-6 right-hander was making his second start since coming off the disabled list after being sidelined with an elbow flexor strain. He also missed time earlier in the year with right elbow tendinitis.

“I felt good out there,” he said. “I just wanted to make as few pitches out there and let the defense work. It’s great especially after sitting for 15 days and more than that before. It’s nice to get back out there and just be part of the team and contribute.”

Floyd reached double-figures in victories for the fifth consecutive season as the White Sox (81-66) moved 15 games above .500.

“We’re no way content,” Floyd said. “We’re content in the place that we are, but there’s still a lot of baseball left. It’s fun to be in the position we’re at. We’ve just got to keep pushing.”

De Aza drove Luke Hochevar’s second pitch over the wall in right for his eighth homer of the season. De Aza had been slumping, hitless in his previous nine at-bat and 2-for-21 in his previous five games.First-year manager Robin Ventura did not play the outfielder in the past two games, but thought the timing was right to get him back in the lineup.

“I know what I’m doing,” Ventura joked. “He looked out of synch in Minnesota.”

Hochevar (8-14), who is 1-5 in his last nine starts, allowed just one single the next four innings before Beckham led off the sixth with his 16th home run. Beckham is hitting .333 with four home runs and 14 RBI in his past 17 games.

“He’s in a better position to hit,” Ventura said. “He’s more confident. He’s getting his hands back and getting through it. He’s hit some homers, but for me he’s keeping the ball on a line a little bit more than he has all year long.”

The White Sox upped their home run total to 198, which ranks second in the majors. They have 13 homers in their past 14 road games.

“I’m not going to be critical how we get them,” Ventura said. “This is a big ballpark. You’ve got to find a way to get some runs other than just sitting back and waiting for a home run. I’m glad we hit them, but this isn’t a ballpark you can sit back and do that.”

Rios’ 24th homer came with one out in the seventh and matched his career high. Rios also played a key role in the 5-4 win over Detroit on Monday when he broke up a potential double play with a hard slide that led to an errant throw that allowed the tying and go-ahead runs to score.Hochevar allowed seven hits in seven innings. He struck out four and walked none.Kansas City got off to a fast start when Billy Butler hit a two-run single in the first inning to give him a career-high 97 RBI.The Royals did not have a baserunner after Jeff Francoeur’s fourth-inning double.

“He [Floyd] settled in really nice,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “They retired our last 16 batters. We had trouble centering anything up against them.”

Matt Thornton retired all four batters he faced. Addison Reed got the final two outs for his 28th save in 32 chances.

NOTES—Royals RHP Luis Mendoza has strep throat and will miss his scheduled Wednesday start against the White Sox. LHP Bruce Chen will be moved up a day, while RHP Jeremy Guthrie will start Thursday…..The White Sox announced Francisco Liriano will start the Thursday series finale against the Royals….Royals LF Alex Gordon threw out A.J. Pierzynski trying to stretch a single into a double in the fifth inning. Kansas City leads the majors with 44 outfield assists.

Dusty Baker and the Cincinnati Reds moved one step closer to the NL Central title on Tuesday night, thanks to another solid September start by Homer Bailey.The right-hander pitched effectively into the eighth inning and Ryan Hanigan hit a three-run double to lead Cincinnati to a 3-1 victory over the Cubs.

“We had just enough offense to win,” Baker said after his 3,000th game as a big league manager. “That was a big double by Hanigan. Just a big victory for us, back to 30 over and one step closer.”

The Reds (89-59) have a magic number of four to clinch the division championship over St. Louis. The Cardinals beat Houston 4-1 on Tuesday night.Bailey (12-9) took a two-hit shutout into the eighth before Darwin Barney had his second single of the night and pinch-hitter Bryan LaHair hit an RBI double to make it 3-1. Sean Marshall then came in and hit pinch-hitter Dave Sappelt before getting a strikeout and grounder to end the threat.Jonathan Broxton worked a perfect ninth for his third save in five chances with Cincinnati, which acquired him in a July 31 deal with Kansas City. The big right-hander has recorded 11 consecutive scoreless appearances, allowing just five hits and converting each of his three save opportunities during the streak.Bailey allowed four hits, struck out four and walked two while improving to 2-0 with a 1.55 ERA in four starts this month. He is 3-0 against the Cubs this season and 5-2 for his career.

“Once we scored those three runs, I really put a lot of effort into putting up some zeroes,” Bailey said. “Really wish I could have finished that eighth. I threw a pretty good pitch, LaHair just went down there and got it. Nothing you can really do about that.”

Cubs starter Justin Germano was working on a shutout before he was pulled after he walked the first three batters in the sixth — Joey Votto, Ryan Ludwick and Jay Bruce. Manny Corpas came in and Hanigan hit a drive to right-center with one out that cleared the bases.

“I had bases loaded, let it come to you in that situation. Just trying to put the ball in the outfield and fortunately it got over their heads,” Hanigan said. “It worked out.”

“You got three quality veteran hitters up there and after seeing him that was their third time, I think they kind of waited him [Germano] out,” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. “We got the out and just couldn’t get the ball on the ground with Corpas. Hanigan obviously put a nice swing on the ball that changed the whole game around.”

Germano (2-8) lost his sixth straight start. He gave up three hits, walked five, hit two batters and threw a wild pitch.

“I don’t think I’ve ever walked the bases loaded before in my professional career, so that was a first and pretty much the worst time to ever do that,” Germano said. “I was just missing and they were good takes on their part.”

NOTES—Baker said he had no special desire to clinch the division at Wrigley Field, where he managed the Cubs for four seasons, got them within five outs of the World Series in 2003 and was not brought back after the 2006 season. He said he just wanted to clinch as soon as possible and it doesn’t matter where. … Monday night’s game between the Pirates and Cubs was delayed by storms for 3 hours, 37 minutes. The first pitch was thrown at 10:42 p.m. CDT and the game ended at 1:28 a.m. Tuesday night’s game lasted 2 hours, 51 minutes. … Sveum said 2B Darwin Barney, who has stretched his errorless streak to an NL-record 133 straight games, is a core player for the future because his defense is a game-changing skill. Barney also has a 13-game hitting streak … Game 2 of the series on Wednesday night pits the Reds’ Mike Leake (8-9) against Chris Rusin (1-2).

Kevin Correia pitched seven innings of two-hit ball and Starling Marte hit a two-run triple to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates past the Cubs 3-0 Monday night in a game that was delayed more than 31/2 hours by rain.With the Pirates still in playoff contention, the teams waited out two storms at Wrigley Field that pushed back the start for 3 hours, 37 minutes. The first pitch was thrown at 10:42 p.m. CDT, and Joel Hanrahan delivered the final one at 1:28 a.m. on Tuesday.Pittsburgh tied Milwaukee for third place in the NL Central at 74-72. Both teams are 21/2 games behind division rival St. Louis for the second NL wild-card spot, with the Los Angeles Dodgers also in their path.

Omar Infante’s throwing error on a potential double play helped the White Sox score two runs in the fifth inning Monday and they beat the Detroit Tigers 5-4 in a pivotal makeup game.The Sox increased their lead in the AL Central to three games.Nate Jones (8-0) pitched 2 2-3 innings of one-hit relief and the White Sox won their fourth straight.The game had been postponed by rain last Thursday and Monday’s makeup was the final meeting of the season between the two front runners in the division. Addison Reed, the last of three relievers in the ninth, got the final out for his 27th save in 31 chances.Trailing 4-3, the White Sox loaded the bases for a third straight inning in the fifth, driving out Detroit starter Doug Fister (9-9).When Dayan Viciedo hit a one-out grounder to short, the Tigers tried to turn the inning-ending double play, but Alex Rios slid hard into second baseman Infante and forced an errant throw that got by Prince Fielder as two runs scored, giving the Sox the lead.Detroit won the season series 12-6 and captured 9 of the final 11 games between the teams, including two of three last week before the four-game series finale was postponed.Each team has 16 games remaining. The White Sox head to Kansas City and Anaheim to finish out this week while Detroit goes home to face the Athletics and Twins.Delmon Young drove in three runs for the Tigers with a pair of singles, but Detroit couldn’t hold on to an early 3-0 lead. Tigers pitchers walked six and hit two batters.The Sox loaded the bases again in the eighth and was on the verge of adding an insurance run when Adam Dunn hit a fly ball to left with one out. But before Gordon Beckham could cross the plate, Dewayne Wise was thrown out trying to go from second to third – a double play that ended the inning.Neither starter got out of the fifth. Jose Quintana, who beat the Tigers a week ago in his previous start, gave up seven hits and four runs in four. And Fister, who defeated the White Sox last Tuesday, gave up eight hits and five runs – four – earned, also in four innings.Avisail Garcia, Gerald Laird and Austin Jackson hit consecutive singles to open the third for a 1-0 Detroit lead. After a sacrifice, Quintana intentionally walked Miguel Cabrera to load the bases. He then struck out Prince Fielder, but Young hit a two-run single to put the Tigers up three.The White Sox had three singles off Fister to load the bases in the bottom half but the 6-foot-8 right-hander struck out Kevin Youkilis and Dunn to end the threat. The Sox tied it in the fourth when Beckham was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Wise had a two-run single.Cabrera led off the fifth with a double and Fielder was ruled safe at first when Dunn fielded his grounder and flipped to Quintana covering. Chicago manager Robin Ventura came out for an explanation from first base umpire Mike Muchlinski and replays appeared to show that Quintana beat Fielder to the bag by a step.Young followed with another RBI single to put the Tigers ahead 4-3.

NOTES—Young, who had seven RBIs when the Tigers swept a series from the White Sox earlier this month in Detroit, has 28 RBIs in 40 games at U.S. Cellular Field. .. Tigers C Alex Avila was out of the starting lineup after colliding with Fielder on Sunday chasing a pop in Cleveland. … Wise was the White Sox’s leadoff hitter a second straight game with Alejandro De Aza sitting out. Ventura said De Aza had been a bit out of sync.

EAST LANSING—Everett Golson made plays with his arms and legs, and an inspired Manti Te’o helped Notre Dame’s defense smother Michigan State.The Fighting Irish are off to their best start in 10 years, with the type of marquee victory that’s eluded them for almost as long.Golson threw a touchdown pass and ran for a score in the first half to help the 20th-ranked Fighting Irish dominate the 10th-ranked Spartans 20-3 Saturday night.The Fighting Irish (3-0) snapped a six-game losing streak against ranked teams and beat a top-10 opponent for the first time in seven years.

“It’s a signature win,” third-year Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said.

And Te’o was the signature player.The senior linebacker had 12 tackles, one for a loss, and broke up two passes, playing just a few days after the deaths of his girlfriend, who had a long battle with leukemia, and his grandmother.

“It was hard,” Te’o said of his week. “But I had my family around me. At the end of the day, families are forever.”

The last time a top-10 team scored fewer than Michigan State did at home against the Irish was in 1966 when they shut out USC 51-0. Notre Dame had its best showing on defense anywhere against a top-10 opponent since beating Texas A&M 28-3 in 1993.

“It’s definitely going to build confidence in the locker room,” Kelly said.

The Spartans (2-1) had won 15 straight at home. The streak included a win over the Irish in 2010 on a fake field goal in overtime that preceded coach Mark Dantonio having a heart attack.Dantonio blamed himself for not having his team ready for a tough test.

“It’s everything from everybody and it starts here,” he said.

Notre Dame is off to its best start since 2002 when Tyrone Willingham won his first eight games as its coach. The Irish opened 0-2 last year and 1-3 the season before in Kelly’s debut before bouncing back to finish with eight wins.Kelly, though, is not ready to celebrate just yet with No. 17 Michigan (2-1) up next at home.

“We want to rejoice in this, but we also know that we have to come back and we have Michigan next week,” Golson said. “That’s a big rivalry game also.”

Kelly said: “There are a lot of things to work on.”

Michigan State had its worst showing on offense at home since losing 20-3 to Central Michigan in 1991.

“Tough day at the office, I guess you’d say,” Dantonio said.

Golson was 14 of 32 for 178 yards and a TD, a 36-yard pass to John Goodman. He ran for a 6-yard TD early in the second quarter to give Notre Dame a 14-0 lead.

“He made some big plays for us early which put us in a good position,” Kelly said.

Andrew Maxwell was 23 of 45 for 187 yards and Le’Veon Bell had 77 yards rushing on 19 carries for the Spartans.Notre Dame had four sacks – against a team that hadn’t given up one – two more tackles for losses and broke up eight passes with its swarming defenders.

“When a front seven can get a lot of pressure without a lot of blitzes, it causes a lot of problems,” Maxwell said.

The Irish shook off a sloppy start that included George Atkinson running into a teammate on a kickoff return, a false start and a timeout before their first snap.
Golson missed an opportunity to connect with wide-open receiver Chris Brown on what would’ve been a TD, but the first-year starter made up for it. On Notre Dame’s second drive, Golson eluded a rush as he rolled to the right and threw back across the field to Goodman for a 7-0 lead.Maxwell threw a pass on the ensuing possession into the end zone that Bennie Fowler dropped in what proved to be the Spartans best shot to score more than a field goal.Maxwell didn’t have as much time to pass as he did in wins over Boise State and Central Michigan, and Bell couldn’t run all over the Irish as he did in the opener against the Broncos. Maxwell was sacked three times in the second quarter alone — after not getting sacked in his first two games — and one of those hits behind the line forced a punt that gave Notre Dame good field position.Golson took advantage, scoring on a run to the outside on a play that was designed to be a pass to give the Irish a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter. Michigan State responded with a 13-play drive that ended with Dan Conroy making a 50-yard field goal to match his career high and make it 14-3 late in the first half.The Spartans had a shot to force Notre Dame to punt early in the fourth, but Cierre Wood went left and cut back to the right on a 26-yard gain that seemed to deflate a team and crowd that didn’t have much to cheer about all night.Fans started to fill the aisles when Wood converted a fourth-and-1 from the Michigan State 37 with an 8-yard run to the outside. Kyle Brindza made a 29-yard field goal at the end of a time-consuming drive that took 6:21 off the clock and gave the Irish a 17-3 lead.Michigan State’s slim comeback hopes were dashed when Bell was going out of bounds and his lateral was caught by linebacker Manti Te’o with 4:20 left in the game to set up Brindza’s 47-yard field goal that made it 20-3.Notre Dame won its second straight in the series by more than a TD after nine of the previous 11 were closely contested contests. It knocked off a top-10 team for the first time since Charlie Weis won his second game over Michigan in 2005.

EVANSTON—Mike Trumpy ran for 106 yards with a late touchdown, and Northwestern beat Boston College 22-13 on Saturday.Jeff Budzien tied a school record with five field goals and the Wildcats (3-0) made it three wins over three BCS teams to start the season even though they didn’t reach the end zone until the closing minutes.They downed a punt at the 1 to pin Boston College (1-2) against the goal line and took over on the Eagles’ 44 with 2:35 left in the game after they went three-and-out.After going three quarters against Vanderbilt the previous week without a TD, Northwestern finally broke through in this one when Trumpy broke up the middle for a 27-yard scoring run that made it 22-13 with 1:37 remaining.Before that, Budzien’s leg provided all the scoring. Northwestern wasted several big chances, particularly in the early going, and had to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns. But with their kicker on target, the Wildcats led most of the way to come out with the win hours after the school announced plans for a new lakefront athletics complex that will include a facility for football.Kain Colter threw for 144 yards and ran for 66, while Trevor Siemian threw for 123 yards. Venric Mark ran for 77 yards but spent the fourth quarter on the sideline limping with an undisclosed lower body injury.Chase Rettig came up big for Boston College, completing 24 of 44 passes for 291 yards and a touchdown, but the Eagles fell short.Budzien’s 41-yarder at the end of the second quarter gave the Wildcats a 12-10 lead, but that came right after another blown chance. A leaping Kyle Prater deflected a wobbly pass from Siemian in the end zone that probably should have been caught anyway for a 23-yard TD.Northwestern caught a break after Colter lost a fumble near midfield on its first possession of the third quarter.BC took over at the Wildcats 45 and drove to the 5 before Rolandan Finch got stripped at the line by Brian Arnfelt, with Chi Chi Ariguzo recovering the ball for NU.That led to a 19-yarder by Budzien to make it 15-10 late in the third, but again, the field goal came after a missed opportunity. This time, Colter overthrew a wide open Christian Jones in the end zone on second down at the 6 before getting stopped on a 4-yard run.Nate Freese pulled Boston College within two with a 34-yard field goal in the opening seconds of the fourth.

CHAMPAIGN—Reilly O’Toole threw for 333 yards and five touchdowns and receiver Ryan Lankford had 97 yards and two scores to lead Illinois to a 44-0 win Saturday over Charleston Southern.The Illini (2-1) were missing a handful of starters who were injured, including quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase, who has missed two games with a sprained ankle. O’Toole got the start and connected with Lankford twice in the first quarter for short touchdowns that gave the Illini a 13-0 lead, all they would need. Illinois held Charleston Southern (0-3) to 125 yards of offense. It was the first game against a Big Ten team for the FCS Buccaneers.Even with O’Toole’s big day, the most important play of the game for the Illini might have come from freshman running back Dami Ayoola.Illinois jumped ahead early 13-0 on a pair of 4-yard first-quarter touchdown passes from O’Toole to Lankford, but stalled offensively as the second quarter dragged on.Facing a fourth-and-1 at the Charleston Southern 28, the 5-10, 205-pound Ayoola got the ball and quickly pushed into the center of the Buccaneer line for the first down. But no one brought him down, and Ayoola popped out of the pile stumbling but still on his feet.He straightened himself out and sprinted to the end zone for a touchdown.With the extra point Illinois had a 20-0 lead that, even with 2:06 left to play in the first half, looked comfortable. The Buccaneers have yet to score more than 14 points in a game this season.Ayoola finished with eight carries for a game-high 55 yards. He played in place of starting back Josh Ferguson, who missed the game with a concussion.Even with Scheelhaase out, Illinois’ defense came into Saturday’s game knowing it was the primary problem in last week’s loss at Arizona State. Players said they had trouble reading the play calls from the sideline, and the Sun Devils built a 28-0 halftime edge before going on to win 45-14.But Charleston Southern’s option offense seldom troubled the Illini defense Saturday.The more limited Buccaneers managed just 125 yards of offense against the Illini. A rotating cast of quarterbacks were a combined 5 of 14 for 29 yards, including an early interception that set up Illinois’ first touchdown.Freshman linebacker Mason Monheim intercepted Derek Hatcher deep in Buccaneer territory and returned the pass to the 7-yard line. Three plays later O’Toole hit Lankford from 4 yards out.Charleston Southern really threatened only once.Illinois led 13-0 midway through the second quarter when Buccaneers backup quarterback Briar Van Brunt kept the ball on the option and broke away from the Illinois defense for a 54-yard gain. V’Angelo Bentley and Justin Green caught him from behind at the Illinois 38.But the Buccaneers’ first trip into Illini territory didn’t last long. Two plays that went nowhere and a penalty for having 12 players on the field left Charleston Southern with a third-and-15 at the Illini 43. Quarterback Derek Hatcher’s wobbly floater was too high for Corvaughn Archie to pull down, and the Buccaneers were forced to punt.Illinois went into the game missing three starters on each side of the ball.In addition to Scheelhaase and Ferguson, center Graham Pocic was held out with a leg injury. On defense, Illinois was missing safeties Steve Hull and Suppo Sanni and linebacker Houston Bates.

Joel Hanrahan allowed two runs in the ninth, then struck out Dave Sappelt with the bases loaded to preserve a 7-6 win over the Cubs on Saturday.Andrew McCutchen homered and reached base four times for Pittsburgh, which had dropped 11 of 13 overall.

“If it was about everybody’s comfort, you’d choose to do it differently,” Clint Hurdle said. “But usually when you push through something like we’re going through right now, it’s gonna take some drama, and it’s gonna take some wherewithal, and some confidence and some grit.It was enough today to get us out of the direction we were headed in and headed in a new direction.”

Wandy Rodriguez (11-13) held the Northsiders to three runs — one earned — in helping the Pirates stop their free-fall in the NL playoff race. Pittsburgh had lost 17 of 22, yet was just three games behind St. Louis for the second NL wild-card slot entering the day.Rodriguez improved to 3-0 with a 1.40 ERA over his last four starts after struggling initially upon being acquired midseason from Houston.McCutchen launched Jason Berken’s pitch off the rear fence behind the left-field bleachers leading off the third, his 28th homer of the season. He also singled and walked twice, improving to .394 in 27 career games at Wrigley Field.Hanrahan allowed Alfonso Soriano’s RBI single in the ninth and walked in a run, but held on for his 35th save.

“It’s obviously not how we write it up, especially with a seven-game losing streak, you want to go out there and have it go smooth,” Hanrahan said. “Being here in Chicago, dinner isn’t good until about 6 o’clock anyway, so keep us around a little bit.”

Starling Marte had an RBI triple, doubled and scored twice as Pittsburgh scored more than four runs for the first time since its losing streak began. The Pirates were aided by a pair of Cubs errors that led to four unearned runs.Clint Barmes hit a solo homer in the seventh, and enjoyed the return of his double-play combination, Neil Walker, who started for the first time since Aug. 26 due to lower back tightness.Walker went hitless in five at-bats, but his presence was felt elsewhere.

“Just looking over and seeing [Walker] out there, it brought a whole different feel to the clubhouse,” Barmes said. “We need him out there. Having him out there puts everybody a little more at ease.”

Berken (0-1) struggled in his Cubs debut, giving up eight hits in four innings, though just two of the six runs he allowed were earned.Berken, who was claimed off waivers on Sept. 7 after Baltimore designated him for assignment, became the 12th starting pitcher the Cubs have used this season and the team-record 53rd player they’ve used overall.

“He was a victim of a couple of errors,” Dale Sveum said. “Could have gotten into the fifth only giving up two, but the errors cost him pitches and the ability to go five or six today.”

Anthony Rizzo had two hits and an RBI, and Soriano drove in two runs, leaving him one RBI shy of his first 100 RBI season since 2005.Starlin Castro had two hits and reached base three times, but missed a chance to move into a tie for the NL lead in triples when he tripped over second base on a double up the right field line in the eighth.Josh Vitters’throwing error on a routine ball led to three unearned runs in the fourth, all scoring with two outs. Marte pounded an RBI triple to center, while Travis Snider and Garrett Jones drove in runs to cap the rally.

NOTES—Cuban OF Jorge Soler made his first visit to a big league ballpark Saturday when he participated in pregame drills with the Cubs at Wrigley Field. The powerfully-built 20 year old put on an impressive display in batting practice, knocking two balls onto Waveland Avenue and three more that easily cleared the ivy in left. The Cubs won a hotly-contested bidding war for Soler, signing him to a nine-year, $30 million contract in June….Hurdle declined to answer a pregame question about whether removing James McDonald from the starting rotation was an option. `’We’re doing some internal talking in a lot of different areas. I had a talk with James yesterday. We’ll just leave it at that right now,” Hurdle said. McDonald lasted only 3 2/3 innings Friday and is 3-5 with a 7.08 ERA in the second half.

MINNEAPOLIS—Francisco Liriano is a difficult pitcher to figure out.When the White Sox pitcher is throwing strikes, his changeup-slider combination makes him a lefty who can dominate lineups. But when he is can’t find the plate, it is often only a matter of time until the opposition scores runs in bunches.That inconsistency was part of the reason Liriano was traded from Minnesota to the White Sox at the end of July. But in Saturday’s 5-3 victory over the Twins, Liriano (6-11) was tremendous against his former team. Instead of being wild and getting frustrated, Liriano took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and helped the White Sox stay on top of the AL Central.Considering Liriano had recently been demoted to the bullpen — making him a rare pitcher who made the rotation-to-reliever move for two teams in the same season — this performance came as a huge surprise.

“He just looked like he had a lot of confidence out there, just throwing strikes,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “His stuff moves all over the place. When he has that confidence and pounds the strike zone, he’s tough.”

Liriano allowed only a two-out homer in the seventh to Trevor Plouffe. He walked two, hit a batter and struck out nine in seven innings.

“He seemed like he was more under control, he wasn’t as jumpy, he wasn’t as quick,” A.J. Pierzynski said. “It looked like he slowed it down a little bit. He pitched really well. I was happy for him to come back here and do that. He had a great slider and a great changeup.”

Liriano, who threw a no-hitter against the White Sox last season, was simply relieved to help get a win and stay ahead of Detroit in the AL Central race.

“My last three starts, I didn’t feel like I did my job, but you’ve got to keep fighting,” said Liriano, who picked up his third win since the July 28 trade. “Today I felt like I did my job.”

Ventura would not commit to having Liriano rejoin the White Sox rotation for the final 17 games of the regular season and starting Thursday at Kansas City, but said that the performance was “a great step for him.”

Liriano didn’t appear too concerned about what his role is down the stretch.

“It’s not a big deal,” he said. “We’re in a pennant race now, we’ve got to stay focused and do whatever’s best for the team, whether bullpen or starting.”

Liriano never got in serious trouble against the Twins. He allowed only two runners through the first six innings. He walked Josh Willingham with two outs in the first inning, but quickly got the next batter, Justin Morneau, to ground out. Liriano walked Drew Butera to lead off the bottom of the sixth and then got Pedro Florimon to ground into a double play.Liriano’s bid for the no-hitter ended with two outs in the seventh. After hitting Morneau with a pitch, Plouffe blasted a high changeup over the wall in left-center on Liriano’s 96th pitch of the game.

“I had better location with pitches and I was getting ahead in the count early and they were swinging early,” said Liriano who opened this season by losing seven of his first nine starts. “Pitching’s all about location, if you get better location, you’ll get better results.”

The Twins had seen enough flashes of brilliance from Liriano since 2006 that they weren’t shocked.

“We’ve all seen him dominate teams, just dominate them,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “But we’ve also seen where has a hard time finding the strike zone. Anything Frankie does we’ve seen it one way or another.”

Jesse Crain, another former Twins player, pitched a perfect eighth inning for the White Sox.Addison Reed faced three batters to start the bottom of the ninth, but didn’t record an out. With the bases loaded, White Sox manager Robin Ventura then turned to Matt Thornton to finish the game.Thornton got Morneau to ground into a run-scoring double play and Plouffe to ground out to pick up his third save in seven chances.Paul Konerko homered in the third inning and drove in the first three runs of the game as the White Sox jumped ahead 4-0. Slugger Adam Dunn returned to the White Sox lineup for the first time since straining a muscle on his right side more than a week ago. Dunn, who missed seven games, went 2 for 3 with a walk and scored a run before being lifted for a pinch-runner in the top of the eighth.Minnesota starter Samuel Deduno (6-4) struggled with his control from the start, throwing only 40 of his 86 pitches for strikes. Deduno, who had been undefeated at Target Field, lasted just four innings, giving up four runs on three hits with five walks and six strikeouts.

NOTES—Jake Peavy (10-11, 3.27 ERA) will try to even his record Sunday in his 29th start of the season for the White Sox. The Twins will counter with Scott Diamond (11-7, 3.46 ERA), who has lost two of his last three starts….Minnesota catcher Joe Mauer missed his fifth straight game due to back spasms….. Minnesota’s Ryan Doumit wasn’t in the lineup, but was available to pinch hit if needed…..The seven innings pitched was Liriano’s longest since the trade to the Sox and matched his second longest of the season.

WEST POINT—Needing yet another rally with a seesaw road game up for grabs, Northern Illinois quarterback Jordan Lynch knew just who to look for.He found him – and just in the nick of time.Down 40-35 with 4:29 to play, Lynch connected with a streaking Martel Moore from eight yards out – their second touchdown on the afternoon – and the Huskies sent Army to its fifth straight home-opening defeat 41-40 on Saturday.Northern Illinois (2-1, 0-0 Mid-American Conference) made its first visit to Michie Stadium in 20 years a happy one despite trailing 40-35 with just 8:55 to play.

“When the game’s on the line, we try to go to our playmakers,” said Lynch, who finished with 342 yards and four touchdowns on 18 of 27 passing. “Martel’s our playmaker out there. I just gave him a chance. He was in rhythm and made a nice catch.”

The senior Moore had 134 receiving and Lynch added 125 on the ground as Northern Illinois used a potent passing game to counter Army’s triple-option.Larry Dixon had three scores on 136 yards rushing and Trent Steelman had two touchdowns on 116 yards rushing for the Black Knights (0-2), while Raymond Maples added a score on 159 yards. It was Army’s first game with three hundred-yard rushers since 1996.

“Our guys overcame a lot in that game to win,” said Huskies coach Dave Doeren, whose team notched its first victory in a road-opener in five years. “They found a way to get it done. I’m excited to be able to run and pass the ball, the balance we had.”

Northern Illinois had led 28-13 late in the first half.Army got the ball back with 4:29 left in the game on its own 25, but the Huskies snuffed Trent Steelman’s keeper attempt on fourth-and-3 with 1:52 to go to ice the win.Army led 34-28 in the fourth when Lynch connected with Moore for a 31-yard touchdown pass on third-and-10 to go ahead 35-34.The Black Knights went back ahead 40-35 on Steelman’s 15-yard run – set up by a Mike Ugenyi fumble recovery to put the Black Knights deep in the red zone – before a missed conversion attempt with 8:55 left.

“This stadium is a place not many people come in and win,” Doeren said.

Army kept its opening drive alive on fourth-and-2 when Steelman lunged for a first down, setting up Terry Baggett’s 28-yard drive on the next play to reach the Northern Illinois 25.Three plays later, Maples took a pitch left from Steelman, weaved through traffic and skipped into the end zone at the left hash, putting Army up 6-0 with his 22-yard run with 10:25 left in the first.The Huskies didn’t waste any time responding.On the first play of the ensuing drive from their own 30, Lynch found tight end Luke Eakes for a 38-yard completion down the right sideline, the first of several bombs from Lynch on the afternoon.Later, facing third-and-goal, Lynch dropped back and found a streaking Tim Semisch in the back of the end zone. Semisch came down with a fancy one-handed catch and kept a foot in bounds for the 2-yard touchdown.Lynch was 4 for 5 for 62 yards on the drive – a stark contrast to the Army triple-option game. Steelman completed one of just three passing attempts and was sacked twice.On first down from Northern’ own 12, Lynch broke loose on a keeper, misdirecting the Army defense as he raced to the left side. Lynch slipped two tacklers near the 45 and was well on his way to an 88-yard touchdown run.The Huskies were up 14-7 on the longest run by an Army opponent since 2006.Early in the second quarter, Lynch hooked up with Moore on a 33-yard lob. Then, off a fancy reverse, Tommylee Lewis ran in unscathed from 21 yards out. The Huskies had marched 55 yards in just 52 seconds to go up 21-7 midway through the second quarter.Army looked to sophomore fullback Dixon to answer. He shook loose for a 17-yard run to get to the 8, then pounded it in from the 3 two plays later. The Black Knights were within 21-13 with 4:16 left in the half.It was a short reprieve.Lynch promptly connected on a 69-yard pass to Lewis, who beat Justin Trimble and raced into the end zone untouched. NIU led 28-13 with 3:40 remaining in the half.Army, though, answered back when Dixon, broke two tackles on his way to a 13-yard touchdown run in the closing seconds of the half to make it 28-19.Army didn’t need long to get even closer, marching 68 yards to open the third quarter, capped by Steelman’s 25-yard touchdown run off a fake handoff to make it 28-26.But the Huskies went back to the weapon that Army couldn’t stop: the long pass. Lynch dropped back and let loose, finding Perez Ashford for a 44-yard gain.The drive was soon cut short on a controversial call.The ball fully extended from his fingertips, Lynch appeared on replays to break the plane for a four-yard touchdown rush. But the original call of a fumble – with Army recovering and earning the touchback – stood upon review.Army capitalized, scoring on its next drive when Dixon powered in and Steelman found Patrick Laird over the middle for a two-point conversion. That gave Army a 34-28 edge, its first lead since the opening drive of the game.