Vazquez in control

Here's an opening-day pitching tip for you youngsters out there, courtesy of White Sox starter Javier Vazquez:

Throw first-pitch strikes. They have an amazing way of leading to outs.

And wins.

Building off his inefficient losing start at Cleveland last week, Vazquez struggled early Monday as he fell behind in the count to almost every Minnesota batter who didn't put his first pitch into play.

That led to two dreadfully long half-innings, as well as a 2-1 Twins lead that could have been worse.

"In the beginning, I think I wasn't being aggressive enough," Vazquez said. "A little tentative."

Vazquez surrendered another run in the fourth inning to fall behind 3-1, then suddenly remembered his own little pitching tip.

The 31-year-old proceeded to retire the final 11 Twins he faced. He either threw a first-pitch strike or induced a first-pitch popout with nine of those 11 batters.

He finished with a 7-inning quality start that included 8 strikeouts and just 1 walk.

"When Javy's on, that's what he does," catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. "He gets his strikeouts, but he also gets some popups and some outs in early counts."

Vazquez's reward for his sudden efficiency? His first win of the season as Joe Crede's seventh-inning grand slam allowed him to hand the bullpen a 7-3 lead.

"After the fourth inning, I think I started being more aggressive, making better pitches," Vazquez said. "For me, aggressiveness is the key."

Sox manager Ozzie Guillen tried to pass off Vazquez's early struggles as the result of starting the home opener in front of a sellout crowd, but Vazquez didn't accept the offer.

"I don't think I was antsy," he said. "The first game I think I was, but not today. It's tough to pitch when you're 1-0 or 2-1, getting behind hitters."

Here's the empirical evidence to prove Vazquez's theory:

When he fell behind in the count either 1-0 or 2-1, the Twins went 5-for-9 with a walk. When Vazquez threw a first-pitch strike or induced the first pitch into play, the Twins had 2 hits in 17 at-bats.

While that's revealing, here's something else to pay attention to as the season goes along.

Right-handers are just 2-for-21 (.095) against Vazquez -- and 1 of those hits was Carlos Gomez's bunt single to lead off the game -- but lefties are going at a .400 clip (10-for-25).

"Javy'll be all right," Guillen said. "I don't worry about him."