Twins lose big to Sox

Published 8:31 am Friday, August 20, 2010

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Just when the Minnesota Twins really looked to be grabbing hold of the AL Central division, Paul Konerko, Mark Buehrle and the Chicago White Sox delivered an emphatic message: This race is far from over.

Konerko had five hits and four RBIs and Buehrle pitched seven shutout innings to help the White Sox slow surging Minnesota with an 11-0 romp on Thursday night.

Buehrle (12-9) allowed five hits and struck out four. Konerko hit his 31st home run and had a double and three singles among Chicago’s 21 hits to help the Sox avoid a sweep and shave the Twins’ lead to four games in the AL Central.

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“We will fight to the end,” manager Ozzie Guillen said. “How’s the fight going to go? I don’t know how the fight is going to go, but we’re going to fight like a champ. We’re not down.”

Carl Pavano (15-8) set a career high and tied a club record with 15 hits allowed. He gave up seven runs in six innings. The Twins lost at sold-out Target Field for the first time in 10 games and missed a chance to take a six-game lead in the division.

“We expect it to be all the way down to the end,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said of the race. “We’ll attack it as is.”

Mark Teahen and Alexei Ramirez each had three hits and two RBIs for the White Sox. Ramirez’s two-run homer in the eighth off Glen Perkins made it 11-0.

In the first two games of the series, the Twins rallied in the late innings to win. With Buehrle dealing and the Sox slugging, Minnesota had no chance in this one.