AL: CHI WHITE SOX at MINNESOTA <div class="pre">CHI WHITE SOX (8) VS MINNESOTA (2) - MID 9TH - IN PROGRESS CHI WHITE SOX ab r h rbi bb so lob avg J Owens cf 6 1 5 3 0 0 0 .267 J Fields lf 2 1 1 0 2 0 2 .246 L Terrero rf 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .232 J Thome dh 4 1 2 2 1 2 3 .275 P Konerko 1b 4 0 0 0 1 1 6 .258 D Erstad rf-lf 5 2 3 2 0 0 1 .253 A Pierzynski c 5 1 2 0 0 0 1 .261 J Uribe ss 4 0 1 1 0 1 4 .230 D Richar 2b 5 2 2 0 0 1 2 .236 A Gonzalez 3b 3 0 0 0 1 0 2 .186 A Cintron 3b 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .243 Totals 40 8 16 8 5 7 21 BATTING: 2B - A Pierzynski (23, B Bonser). 3B - D Richar (3, B Bonser). HR - J Thome (32, 3rd inning off B Bonser 0 on, 0 Out), D Erstad (4, 5th inning off B Bonser 0 on, 0 Out). S - J Fields. SF - J Uribe. RBI - J Uribe (64), J Owens 3 (17), J Thome 2 (92), D Erstad 2 (32). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J Uribe 2, P Konerko 4, A Gonzalez 1. GIDP - J Fields. Team LOB - 12. BASERUNNING: SB - J Owens (29, 2nd base off S Baker/C Heintz). FIELDING: Outfield assists - J Fields (B Buscher at 3rd base). MINNESOTA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg J Tyner lf 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 .288 J Kubel dh 4 1 1 2 0 3 0 .268 T Hunter cf 4 0 1 0 0 2 0 .290 L Ford cf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .235 J Morneau 1b 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 .272 M Cuddyer rf 3 0 0 0 0 1 2 .273 B Buscher 3b 3 0 1 0 0 1 0 .267 C Heintz c 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 .220 L Rodriguez 2b 2 0 1 0 1 1 0 .221 N Punto ss 3 0 0 0 0 2 2 .212 Totals 28 2 5 2 2 12 5 BATTING: 2B - B Buscher (1, J Vazquez). HR - J Kubel (13, 6th inning off J Vazquez 1 on, 0 Out). RBI - J Kubel 2 (63). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - M Cuddyer 1. Team LOB - 4. FIELDING: DP: 1 (N Punto-L Rodriguez-J Morneau). ---------------------------------------------------- CHI WHITE SOX - 031 112 000 -- 8 MINNESOTA - 000 002 00 -- 2 ---------------------------------------------------- CHI WHITE SOX ip h r er bb so hr era J Vazquez 7 5 2 2 2 11 1 3.79 B Logan 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 4.75 MINNESOTA ip h r er bb so hr era S Baker 2 5 3 3 1 1 0 4.29 B Bonser 3 8 5 5 2 3 2 5.09 J DePaula 2 2 0 0 2 1 0 7.94 G Perkins 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3.33 J Rincon 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 5.31 B Bonser pitched to 3 batters in the 6th. Pitches-strikes: J Vazquez 119-75; B Logan 13-11; S Baker 40-24; B Bonser 74-46; J DePaula 38-23; G Perkins 10-7; J Rincon 14-10. Ground balls-fly balls: J Vazquez 5-4; B Logan 2-0; S Baker 3-2; B Bonser 4-2; J DePaula 5-0; G Perkins 2-1; J Rincon 0-1. Batters faced: J Vazquez 27; B Logan 3; S Baker 11; B Bonser 19; J DePaula 10; G Perkins 4; J Rincon 3. UMPIRES: HP--Jim Reynolds. 1B--Brian Knight. 2B--Lance Barksdale. 3B--Tim Welke. Weather: INDOORS.</div>
AL: CHI WHITE SOX at MINNESOTA <div class="pre">AL AT MINNESOTA - SCORING UPDATE SINGLE BY LUIS RODRIGUEZ SCORED MICHAEL CUDDYER. SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, L RODRIGUEZ ON FIRST, C HEINTZ ON SECOND, 2 OUT CURRENT SCORE: CHI WHITE SOX 8 MINNESOTA 3 BOTTOM, 9TH DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: N PUNTO (.212, 0-FOR-3)</div>
AL: CHI WHITE SOX at MINNESOTA <div class="pre">AL FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E - - - - - - - - - - - - CHI WHITE SOX 0 3 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 8 16 0 MINNESOTA 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 3 8 0 (FINAL) BATTERIES: CHA - JAVIER VAZQUEZ, BOONE LOGAN (8TH) AND A.J. PIERZYNSKI MIN - SCOTT BAKER, BOOF BONSER (3RD), JULIO DEPAULA (6TH), GLEN PERKINS (8TH), JUAN RINCON (9TH) AND CHRIS HEINTZ HOME RUNS: CHA - JIM THOME (32) OFF BOOF BONSER IN THE 3RD, 0 ON DARIN ERSTAD (4) OFF BOOF BONSER IN THE 5TH, 0 ON MIN - JASON KUBEL (13) OFF JAVIER VAZQUEZ IN THE 6TH, 1 ON</div>
AL: CHI WHITE SOX at MINNESOTA <div class="pre">AL FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E - - - - - - - - - - - - CHI WHITE SOX 0 3 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 8 16 0 MINNESOTA 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 3 8 0 (FINAL) BATTERIES: CHA - JAVIER VAZQUEZ, BOONE LOGAN (8TH) AND A.J. PIERZYNSKI MIN - SCOTT BAKER, BOOF BONSER (3RD), JULIO DEPAULA (6TH), GLEN PERKINS (8TH), JUAN RINCON (9TH) AND CHRIS HEINTZ WP - JAVIER VAZQUEZ (14-8) LP - SCOTT BAKER (9-9) SAVE - NONE HOME RUNS: CHA - JIM THOME (32) OFF BOOF BONSER IN THE 3RD, 0 ON DARIN ERSTAD (4) OFF BOOF BONSER IN THE 5TH, 0 ON MIN - JASON KUBEL (13) OFF JAVIER VAZQUEZ IN THE 6TH, 1 ON TIME: 2:57 ATT: 31,737 PROBABLES: CHA - GAVIN FLOYD (1-4, 5.65) MIN - KEVIN SLOWEY (3-0, 5.00)</div>
AL: CHI WHITE SOX at MINNESOTA <div class="pre">CHI WHITE SOX (8) VS MINNESOTA (3) - FINAL CHI WHITE SOX ab r h rbi bb so lob avg J Owens cf 6 1 5 3 0 0 0 .267 J Fields lf 2 1 1 0 2 0 2 .246 L Terrero rf 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .232 J Thome dh 4 1 2 2 1 2 3 .275 P Konerko 1b 4 0 0 0 1 1 6 .258 D Erstad rf-lf 5 2 3 2 0 0 1 .253 A Pierzynski c 5 1 2 0 0 0 1 .261 J Uribe ss 4 0 1 1 0 1 4 .230 D Richar 2b 5 2 2 0 0 1 2 .236 A Gonzalez 3b 3 0 0 0 1 0 2 .186 A Cintron 3b 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .243 Totals 40 8 16 8 5 7 21 BATTING: 2B - A Pierzynski (23, B Bonser). 3B - D Richar (3, B Bonser). HR - J Thome (32, 3rd inning off B Bonser 0 on, 0 Out), D Erstad (4, 5th inning off B Bonser 0 on, 0 Out). S - J Fields. SF - J Uribe. RBI - J Uribe (64), J Owens 3 (17), J Thome 2 (92), D Erstad 2 (32). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J Uribe 2, P Konerko 4, A Gonzalez 1. GIDP - J Fields. Team LOB - 12. BASERUNNING: SB - J Owens (29, 2nd base off S Baker/C Heintz). FIELDING: Outfield assists - J Fields (B Buscher at 3rd base). MINNESOTA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg J Tyner lf 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 .288 J Kubel dh 4 1 1 2 0 3 0 .268 T Hunter cf 4 0 1 0 0 2 0 .290 L Ford cf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .235 J Morneau 1b 3 0 1 0 1 1 0 .273 M Cuddyer rf 4 1 0 0 0 1 3 .273 B Buscher 3b 4 0 1 0 0 2 1 .262 C Heintz c 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 .235 L Rodriguez 2b 3 0 2 1 1 1 0 .227 N Punto ss 4 0 0 0 0 3 4 .212 Totals 34 3 8 3 2 14 9 BATTING: 2B - B Buscher (1, J Vazquez). HR - J Kubel (13, 6th inning off J Vazquez 1 on, 0 Out). RBI - J Kubel 2 (63), L Rodriguez (12). 2-out RBI - L Rodriguez. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - M Cuddyer 1, N Punto 1. Team LOB - 6. FIELDING: DP: 1 (N Punto-L Rodriguez-J Morneau). ---------------------------------------------------- CHI WHITE SOX - 031 112 000 -- 8 MINNESOTA - 000 002 001 -- 3 ---------------------------------------------------- CHI WHITE SOX ip h r er bb so hr era J Vazquez (W, 14-8) 7 5 2 2 2 11 1 3.79 B Logan 2 3 1 1 0 3 0 4.84 MINNESOTA ip h r er bb so hr era S Baker (L, 9-9) 2 5 3 3 1 1 0 4.29 B Bonser 3 8 5 5 2 3 2 5.09 J DePaula 2 2 0 0 2 1 0 7.94 G Perkins 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3.33 J Rincon 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 5.31 B Bonser pitched to 3 batters in the 6th. Pitches-strikes: J Vazquez 119-75; B Logan 33-27; S Baker 40-24; B Bonser 74-46; J DePaula 38-23; G Perkins 10-7; J Rincon 14-10. Ground balls-fly balls: J Vazquez 5-4; B Logan 3-0; S Baker 3-2; B Bonser 4-2; J DePaula 5-0; G Perkins 2-1; J Rincon 0-1. Batters faced: J Vazquez 27; B Logan 9; S Baker 11; B Bonser 19; J DePaula 10; G Perkins 4; J Rincon 3. UMPIRES: HP--Jim Reynolds. 1B--Brian Knight. 2B--Lance Barksdale. 3B--Tim Welke. T--2:57. Att--31,737. Weather: INDOORS</div>
AL: CHI WHITE SOX at MINNESOTA <div class="pre">** CONFIRMED ** AL CHI WHITE SOX 8 MINNESOTA 3 FINAL</div>
AL: CHI WHITE SOX at MINNESOTA <div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CHI WHITE SOX (8) AT MINNESOTA (3) - HOW THEY SCORED ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CHI WHITE SOX 2ND: D Erstad singled to center. A Pierzynski singled to right center, D Erstad to third. J Uribe hit sacrifice fly to right, D Erstad scored. D Richar reached on infield single to pitcher, A Pierzynski to second. A Gonzalez walked, A Pierzynski to third, D Richar to second. J Owens singled to center, A Pierzynski and D Richar scored, A Gonzalez to second. J Fields grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, J Owens out at second.(3 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors) CHI WHITE SOX 3, MINNESOTA 0. CHI WHITE SOX 3RD: B Bonser relieved S Baker. J Thome homered to right. P Konerko struck out swinging. D Erstad singled to center. A Pierzynski popped out to shortstop. J Uribe flied out to left. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CHI WHITE SOX 4, MINNESOTA 0. CHI WHITE SOX 4TH: D Richar tripled to deep center. A Gonzalez grounded out to shortstop. J Owens singled to center, D Richar scored. J Fields walked, J Owens to second. J Thome struck out swinging. P Konerko grounded out to second. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CHI WHITE SOX 5, MINNESOTA 0. CHI WHITE SOX 5TH: D Erstad homered to right. A Pierzynski doubled to right center. J Uribe grounded out to shortstop, A Pierzynski to third. D Richar struck out swinging. A Gonzalez grounded out to third. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CHI WHITE SOX 6, MINNESOTA 0. CHI WHITE SOX 6TH: J Owens singled to left. J Fields walked, J Owens to second. J Thome singled to left center, J Owens scored, J Fields to second. J DePaula relieved B Bonser. P Konerko walked, J Fields to third, J Thome to second. D Erstad grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, J Fields scored, J Thome out at third, P Konerko to second. A Pierzynski grounded out to first, P Konerko to third, D Erstad to second. J Uribe struck out swinging. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CHI WHITE SOX 8, MINNESOTA 0. MINNESOTA 6TH: J Tyner singled to right. J Kubel homered to left, J Tyner scored. T Hunter struck out swinging. J Morneau struck out swinging. M Cuddyer struck out swinging. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CHI WHITE SOX 8, MINNESOTA 2. MINNESOTA 9TH: J Morneau singled to right. M Cuddyer grounded into fielder's choice to first, J Morneau out at second. B Buscher struck out swinging. C Heintz singled to center, M Cuddyer to third. L Rodriguez singled to center, M Cuddyer scored, C Heintz to second. N Punto struck out looking. (1 Run, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) CHI WHITE SOX 8, MINNESOTA 3.</div>
AL: CHI WHITE SOX at MINNESOTA <div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CHI WHITE SOX (8) AT MINNESOTA (3) - EVENT LOG ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chi White Sox Starting Lineups -- J Owens CF, J Fields LF, J Thome DH, P Konerko 1B, D Erstad RF, A Pierzynski C, J Uribe SS, D Richar 2B, A Gonzalez 3B, J Vazquez RHP. Minnesota Starting Lineups -- J Tyner LF, J Kubel DH, T Hunter CF, J Morneau 1B, M Cuddyer RF, B Buscher 3B, C Heintz C, L Rodriguez 2B, N Punto SS, S Baker RHP. Umpires -- Jim Reynolds (HP), Brian Knight (1B), Lance Barksdale (2B), Tim Welke (3B). Gametime Weather: INDOORS. CHI WHITE SOX 1ST: J Owens singled to center. J Owens stole second. J Fields sacrificed to pitcher, J Owens to third. J Thome struck out swinging. P Konerko fouled out to first. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CHI WHITE SOX 0, MINNESOTA 0. MINNESOTA 1ST: J Tyner grounded out to first. J Kubel struck out swinging. T Hunter singled to right. J Morneau walked, T Hunter to second. M Cuddyer grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, J Morneau out at second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CHI WHITE SOX 0, MINNESOTA 0. CHI WHITE SOX 2ND: D Erstad singled to center. A Pierzynski singled to right center, D Erstad to third. J Uribe hit sacrifice fly to right, D Erstad scored. D Richar reached on infield single to pitcher, A Pierzynski to second. A Gonzalez walked, A Pierzynski to third, D Richar to second. J Owens singled to center, A Pierzynski and D Richar scored, A Gonzalez to second. J Fields grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, J Owens out at second.(3 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors) CHI WHITE SOX 3, MINNESOTA 0. MINNESOTA 2ND: B Buscher flied out to center. C Heintz struck out swinging. L Rodriguez walked. N Punto struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CHI WHITE SOX 3, MINNESOTA 0. CHI WHITE SOX 3RD: B Bonser relieved S Baker. J Thome homered to right. P Konerko struck out swinging. D Erstad singled to center. A Pierzynski popped out to shortstop. J Uribe flied out to left. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CHI WHITE SOX 4, MINNESOTA 0. MINNESOTA 3RD: J Tyner grounded out to second. J Kubel struck out swinging. T Hunter struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CHI WHITE SOX 4, MINNESOTA 0. CHI WHITE SOX 4TH: D Richar tripled to deep center. A Gonzalez grounded out to shortstop. J Owens singled to center, D Richar scored. J Fields walked, J Owens to second. J Thome struck out swinging. P Konerko grounded out to second. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CHI WHITE SOX 5, MINNESOTA 0. MINNESOTA 4TH: J Morneau grounded out to first. M Cuddyer grounded out to shortstop. B Buscher struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CHI WHITE SOX 5, MINNESOTA 0. CHI WHITE SOX 5TH: D Erstad homered to right. A Pierzynski doubled to right center. J Uribe grounded out to shortstop, A Pierzynski to third. D Richar struck out swinging. A Gonzalez grounded out to third. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CHI WHITE SOX 6, MINNESOTA 0. MINNESOTA 5TH: C Heintz flied out to center. L Rodriguez struck out swinging. N Punto flied out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CHI WHITE SOX 6, MINNESOTA 0. CHI WHITE SOX 6TH: J Owens singled to left. J Fields walked, J Owens to second. J Thome singled to left center, J Owens scored, J Fields to second. J DePaula relieved B Bonser. P Konerko walked, J Fields to third, J Thome to second. D Erstad grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, J Fields scored, J Thome out at third, P Konerko to second. A Pierzynski grounded out to first, P Konerko to third, D Erstad to second. J Uribe struck out swinging. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CHI WHITE SOX 8, MINNESOTA 0. MINNESOTA 6TH: J Tyner singled to right. J Kubel homered to left, J Tyner scored. T Hunter struck out swinging. J Morneau struck out swinging. M Cuddyer struck out swinging. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CHI WHITE SOX 8, MINNESOTA 2. CHI WHITE SOX 7TH: D Richar grounded out to second. A Gonzalez grounded out to pitcher. J Owens singled to left. J Fields singled to right, J Owens to third. J Thome walked, J Fields to second. P Konerko grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CHI WHITE SOX 8, MINNESOTA 2. MINNESOTA 7TH: B Buscher doubled to left. C Heintz flied out to left. L Rodriguez singled to left, B Buscher tagged out at third. A Cintron at third base. N Punto struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CHI WHITE SOX 8, MINNESOTA 2. CHI WHITE SOX 8TH: G Perkins relieved J DePaula. D Erstad grounded out to shortstop. A Pierzynski popped out to shortstop. J Uribe singled to center. D Richar grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CHI WHITE SOX 8, MINNESOTA 2. MINNESOTA 8TH: L Terrero in right field. D Erstad in left field. B Logan relieved J Vazquez. J Tyner grounded out to shortstop. J Kubel struck out swinging. T Hunter grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CHI WHITE SOX 8, MINNESOTA 2. CHI WHITE SOX 9TH: L Ford in center field. J Rincon relieved G Perkins. A Cintron struck out looking. J Owens flied out to center. L Terrero struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CHI WHITE SOX 8, MINNESOTA 2. MINNESOTA 9TH: J Morneau singled to right. M Cuddyer grounded into fielder's choice to first, J Morneau out at second. B Buscher struck out swinging. C Heintz singled to center, M Cuddyer to third. L Rodriguez singled to center, M Cuddyer scored, C Heintz to second. N Punto struck out looking. (1 Run, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) CHI WHITE SOX 8, MINNESOTA 3.</div>
Vazquez, Owens lift White Sox past Twins <h3>CHI WHITE SOX 8, MINNESOTA 3</h3>By Anthony Maggio PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) - Javier Vazquez and Jerry Owens proved tobe quite the 1-2 punch. Vazquez pitched seven dominant innings and Owens had acareer-high five hits as the Chicago White Sox defeated theMinnesota Twins, 8-3, on Saturday. Vazquez (14-8) allowed only a single and a pair of walks throughfive innings before giving up a pair of hits in the sixth,including a two-run homer to Jason Kubel. Overall, Vazquez gave up two runs and five hits, walking two andstriking out 11. In beating Kansas City on Monday, Vazquez struckout 13. Vazquez won his third consecutive start and improved to 3-0 infive outings against the Twins this year. He allowed two runs onfive hits in seven innings, bouncing back from his last startagainst Minnesota on September 7 when he gave up four runs on 11hits in six innings. In his three starts since, Vazquez has a2.11 ERA with 33 strikeouts. He has at least eight strikeouts infour straight contests and has fanned 57 hitters in his last 391/3 innings over six starts. Owens, who tied a career high with three RBI, broke the gameopen with his two-RBI single in the fourth inning and the WhiteSox got home runs from Jim Thome and Darin Erstad for theirfifth win in seven games and sixth in their last seven triesagainst Minnesota. Chicago got to Twins starter Scott Baker (9-9) early, giving theWhite Sox's wins leader a cushion for most of the contest. Erstad and A.J. Pierzynski led off the second inning with singles,and Erstad scored on Juan Uribe's sacrifice fly. Danny Richarlined a single off Baker's pitching hand and Andy Gonzalez followedwith a four-pitch walk. Owens then hit his second of five singles inthe contest to score Pierzynski and Richar before Josh Fields groundedinto a double play to end the inning. Baker, who was looked at by Twins coaches and training staff forseveral minutes after being hit, threw a handful of warm-uppitches before opting to stay in the game. However, he wasreplaced by Boof Bonser to start the third inning. Bonser didn't fare any better, as he was greeted by Thome's504th career home run to start the frame and gave up a run ineach of the next three innings before being replaced afterfailing to record an our four batters into the sixth. Bonser wasultimately charged with five runs and eight hits in three-plusinnings in just his second relief appearance this season. Richar tripled and scored in the fourth inning on another Owenssingle, and Erstad hit a solo home run to lead off the fifthinning. Owens singled, Fields walked, and Thome singled home Owens tochase Bonser in the sixth. Julio DePaula walked Paul Konerko toload the bases and Erstad drove home Fields with a ground ballto put Chicago up 8-0. Kubel hit his two-run shot to end the shutout in the sixthinning, his 13th home run this season. Vazquez gave up a pair ofhits in the seventh inning thanks to miscommunication betweenFields and Uribe on a high fly ball and a misjudgment by Fieldson another fly ball, but Fields threw out Brian Buscher at thirdafter his misplay and Vazquez struck out Nick Punto to escapethe inning unscathed. After Vazquez departed, Boone Logan finished up by working thefinal two innings.
Vazquez, Owens lift White Sox past Twins <h3>CHI WHITE SOX 8, MINNESOTA 3</h3>By Anthony Maggio PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) - Javier Vazquez and Jerry Owens proved tobe quite the 1-2 punch. Vazquez pitched seven dominant innings and Owens had acareer-high five hits as the Chicago White Sox defeated theMinnesota Twins, 8-3, on Saturday. Vazquez (14-8) allowed only a single and a pair of walks throughfive innings before giving up a pair of hits in the sixth,including a two-run homer to Jason Kubel. Overall, Vazquez gave up two runs and five hits, walking two andstriking out 11. In beating Kansas City on Monday, Vazquezstruck out 13. "He's thrown the ball good all year long for us," White Soxmanager Ozzie Guillen said. "He's the one we can really counton. He's been throwing like that for a while. Unfortunately, hecould of won more games. We just didn't play good enough for himto win more games." Vazquez won his third consecutive start and improved to 3-0 infive outings against the Twins this year. He allowed two runson five hits in seven innings, bouncing back from his last startagainst Minnesota on September 7 when he gave up four runs on11 hits in six innings. In his three starts since, Vazquez hasa 2.11 ERA with 33 strikeouts. He has at least eight strikeoutsin four straight contests and has fanned 57 hitters in his last39 1/3 innings over six starts. Vazquez has 204 strikeouts this season, marking the third timehe's reached the 200 milestone and the first time he's done sosince 2003 with Montreal. "Strikeouts is a good number on the back of your card I guess,but its not indicative of how you pitch," Vazquez said. "A lotof people don't strike out a lot of hitters and have goodseasons." Owens, who tied a career high with three RBI, broke the gameopen with his two-RBI single in the fourth inning and the WhiteSox got home runs from Jim Thome and Darin Erstad for theirfifth win in seven games and sixth in their last seven triesagainst Minnesota. Chicago got to Twins starter Scott Baker (9-9) early, giving theWhite Sox's wins leader a cushion for most of the contest. Erstad and A.J. Pierzynski led off the second inning withsingles, and Erstad scored on Juan Uribe's sacrifice fly. DannyRichar lined a single off Baker's pitching hand and AndyGonzalez followed with a four-pitch walk. Owens then hit hissecond of five singles in the contest to score Pierzynski andRichar before Josh Fields grounded into a double play to end theinning. Baker, who was looked at by Twins coaches and training staff forseveral minutes after being hit, threw a handful of warm-uppitches before opting to stay in the game. However, he wasreplaced by Boof Bonser to start the third inning. Baker was unavailable for comment after the game because heneeded to catch a flight back to his home in Louisiana to attendto a family emergency. Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhirewouldn't elaborate further on the matter, but said Baker wasremoved from the game as a precaution for his hand, not becauseof the family issues. "His hand is OK," Gardenhire said. "They didn't X-ray it. Hetook a pretty good whack out there, it was pretty numb. Hewanted to continue pitching, he still had his range of motion.But once we saw him get through that inning and then come intothe dugout, the fear was he would start trying to do somethingdifferent and hurt himself." Bonser didn't fare any better, as he was greeted by Thome's504th career home run to start the frame and gave up a run ineach of the next three innings before being replaced afterfailing to record an our four batters into the sixth. Bonserwas ultimately charged with five runs and eight hits inthree-plus innings in his first careerrelief appearance. Richar tripled and scored in the fourth inning on another Owenssingle, and Erstad hit a solo home run to lead off the fifthinning. Owens singled, Fields walked, and Thome singled home Owens tochase Bonser in the sixth. Julio DePaula walked Paul Konerko toload the bases and Erstad drove home Fields with a ground ballto put Chicago up 8-0. Fields said after the game he couldn't recall ever having afive-hit performance. "It's kind of like an audition," Owens said. "I'm trying to makea name for myself to have a spot on this team next year and beable to contribute. By no means have I thrown in the towel. Istill have 30 at-bats left and I'll take each one like it's mylast." Kubel hit his two-run shot to end the shutout in the sixthinning, his 13th home run this season. Vazquez gave up a pairof hits in the seventh inning thanks to miscommunication betweenFields and Uribe on a high fly ball and a misjudgment by Fieldson another fly ball, but Fields threw out Brian Buscher atthird after his misplay and Vazquez struck out Nick Punto toescape the inning unscathed. After Vazquez departed, Boone Logan finished up by working thefinal two innings.
