Twins 7, White Sox 5: Justin Morneau hit two homers – including the go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning – and collected a season-high five RBIs as visiting Minnesota maintained its recent dominance of Chicago by winning the opener of a doubleheader.
Chris Colabello and Oswaldo Arcia also went deep for the Twins, who posted a 3-2 victory in the nightcap for their eighth win in 10 meetings between the clubs this season. Brian Duensing (5-1) struck out the only batter he faced in the sixth while three relievers each tossed a scoreless frame to close out the victory.
Paul Konerko and Alexei Ramirez homered for the White Sox on the same day they traded right fielder Alex Rios to the Texas Rangers in exchange for a player to be named later. Donnie Veal (1-3) and Nate Jones were each charged with one run on Morneau’s grand slam, wasting a season-high nine-strikeout performance from John Danks.
Colabello reached Danks for the only run he allowed over the first six innings when he connected on a solo homer, but Konerko countered in the bottom half. The game remained tied until the fifth as Ramirez followed a walk to Gordon Beckham with a two-run shot – his first home run since April 3.
Danks issued a pair of walks to open the seventh, but the bullpen could not hold the two-run lead as Veal walked the only batter he faced and Jones surrendered Morneau’s seventh career grand slam – and first since 2009. Arcia and Morneau capped off the Twins’ four-homer effort with solo blasts in the eighth and ninth, respectively.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Multiple sources have reported the player to be named later in the Rios trade is 22-year-old INF Leury Garcia, who is batting .264 with four homers and 19 RBIs in 47 games at Triple-A Round Rock. … The Twins placed C Ryan Doumit (concussion) on the seven-day disabled list and activated OF Josh Willingham, who went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts in his first action since June 30. … Ramirez, who added a two-run single in the ninth, recorded his first homer in 452 at-bats.
Minnesota | Chi. White Sox | |
Kyle Gibson | Player | John Danks |
No Decision | W/L | No Decision |
5.2 | IP | 6.0 |
4 | Strikeouts | 9 |
4 | Hits | 4 |
4.76 | ERA | 4.50 |
Minnesota | Chi. White Sox | |
Chris Colabello | Player | Alexei Ramirez |
2 | Hits | 2 |
1 | RBI | 4 |
1 | HR | 1 |
6 | TB | 5 |
.667 | Avg | .400 |
Team | Hits | HR | TB | Avg | LOB | K | RBI | BB | SB | Errors |
Minnesota | 7 | 4 | 21 | .206 | 18 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 0 |
Chi. White Sox | 7 | 2 | 14 | .206 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 |