Twins back in first in AL Central in 6-1 win over Sox
It was right there for the White Sox in Thursday night's game against the Twins.
Actually, it was right there twice.
"It's always disappointing when you have chances and you don't perform the way you want to," Alex Rios said.
Trailing Minnesota 3-1 in he fifth inning at U.S. Cellular Field, the Sox loaded the bases with no outs against Twins starter Francisco Liriano and had the meat of the order coming to the plate.
But Rios grounded back to Liriano, who threw home for the easy force. The talented left-hander got out of the major jam by striking out Paul Konerko and Carlos Quentin.
"We missed a lot of opportunities offensively," manager Ozzie Guillen said after the White Sox went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded 12 runners. "I think that we had people on base almost every inning and we couldn't get a basehit. One inning (the fifth), we had the bases loaded and the big guys coming to bat and we couldn't get it done.
"Obviously, we didn't get anything done with people on base, but we were facing a pretty good pitcher. Liriano's slider was pretty good. We couldn't lay off of those sliders, and he threw those sliders in big situations. We couldn't do anything to them."
Rios agreed.
"I didn't do what I was supposed to do but (Liriano) had it going on tonight," the Sox' center fielder said. "He had that slider and it was tough to stay on. And he was throwing cutters and sinkers in."
The White Sox also loaded the bases with one out in the sixth inning and again came up empty, even when Matt Guerrier relieved Liriano with two outs.
Not only did the Twins wind up moving back into first place in the AL Central, they won a series over the Sox at the Cell for the first time since June 4-6, when the Indians took two of three.
It was also a tough night for White Sox pitchers.
Gavin Floyd took the loss after allowing 6 runs on 10 hits in 62/3 innings, and Bobby Jenks had to leave the game in the ninth with back spasms.
Floyd didn't have his usual standout offspeed stuff, but he kept the Sox in the game until serving up a 3-run homer to Jason Kubel in the seventh inning on an 0-2 pitch.
"You get ahead, you want to make a better pitch," Floyd said. "It broke pretty well but when you have a guy like that, especially in a key situation, you've just got to make a better pitch. You battle your butt off all game, make a mistake like balking (in the third inning), which is a bad mistake on my part - but I just had to make a better pitch (to Kubel)."
The Sox get three more cracks against Minnesota next week at Target Field.
"We're just one game behind them," Rios said. "We just have to put this all behind us and be ready when we face them again. It's really disappointing because we had some good chances tonight, but that's the way it goes sometimes."
Sox scouting reportWhite Sox vs. Detroit Tigers at U.S. Cellular FieldTV: Channel 26 today; Channel 9 Saturday; Comcast SportsNet SundayRadio: WSCR 670-AMPitching matchups: The Sox' Mark Buehrle (10-9, 4.04 ERA) vs. Jeremy Bonderman (6-7, 4.96) today at 7:10 p.m.; Edwin Jackson (1-0, 1.38) vs. Rick Porcello (5-10, 5.74) Saturday at 6:05 p.m.; Freddy Garcia (10-5, 4.90) vs. Armando Galarraga (3-5, 4.48) Sunday at 1:05 p.m.At a glance: The Sox are 6-2 against the Tigers this season (2-1 at the Cell). They won 3 of 4 at Detroit last week. The Tigers were in first place in the AL Central on July 10. They've lost 22 of 29 since that time and are all but out of the division race. In his last 11 starts, Buehrle is 7-3 with a 2.81 ERA.Next: Minnesota Twins, Tuesday-Thursday at Target Field <p class="factboxhewadblack">Scot Gregor's game tracker </p><p class="News">Twins 6, White Sox 1</p><p class="News"><b>Loaded down:</b> Trailing 3-1, the Sox loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth inning and failed. They loaded the bases again with one out in the sixth and also came up empty.</p><p class="News"><b>Floyd falls:</b> White Sox starter Gavin Floyd had a rare bad outing at home. The right-hander took the loss after allowing 6 runs on 10 hits in 62/3 innings. It was his first loss at the Cell, and first time he allowed 6 runs in a game, since June 2. </p><div class="infoBox"><h1>More Coverage</h1><div class="infoBoxContent"><div class="infoArea"><h2>Stories</h2><ul class="links"><li><a href="/story/?id=400412">When it comes to HBPs, Guillen plays hardball<span class="date"> [8/12/10]</span></a></li><li><a href="/story/?id=400427">Viciedo sent out; Teahen headed back to Sox<span class="date"> [8/12/10]</span></a></li></ul></div></div></div>