Morales' big hit lifts Twins to win over White Sox
MINNEAPOLIS - The White Sox proved something Tuesday night at the Metrodome.
They can lose games with Jim Thome and Jose Contreras, and they can lose games without them.
A day after the veteran duo were traded, the Sox came out and competed against the Twins, so give them credit for that.
But the end result was the same as it has been for much of this atrocious road trip.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, pinch hitter Jose Morales lined a single off White Sox reliever Tony Pena to score pinch runner Nick Punto and give Minnesota a 4-3 victory.
The Sox (64-69) are 1-8 on a road trip that trip that started at Boston last Monday and has two games remaining. They also dropped 7 games behind the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central and 31/2 behind the second-place Twins.
"We're losing heartbreakers," said White Sox third baseman Gordon Beckham, who tied the game at 3-3 in the eighth inning with a 2-run homer.
"That's like the third last-inning loss we've had in the last week-and-a-half. Nobody's giving up, but it's tough."
White Sox general manager Kenny Williams appeared to give up on the season by trading Thome to the Los Angeles Dodgers and Contreras to the Colorado Rockies after Monday's 4-1 loss to Minnesota.
If that was the message Williams was trying to send from Chicago, the Sox didn't get the memo.
"I don't feel ashamed, embarrassed or guilty because I know everybody in here is giving everything they've got, and they will continue to do that," Paul Konerko said. "Sometimes it's just the way it shakes out. We understand it's a business and that stuff has to get done when they get put in tough spots."
Manager Ozzie Guillen was the White Sox' starting shortstop in 1997, the year of the infamous "White Flag" trade that sent pitchers Wilson Alvarez, Roberto Hernandez and Danny Darwin to the San Francisco Giants on July 31.
The Sox were just 31/2 games behind the first-place Cleveland Indians at the time, and third baseman Robin Ventura was on the verge of returning from a serious ankle injury.
Guillen said unloading Thome and the ineffective Contreras doesn't mean the White Sox are repeating history.
"I think right now we can cover that hole (Thome's)," Guillen said. "We've got (Mark) Kotsay, we've got Konerko, anybody in the outfield. Are we going to cover the home runs and on-base percentage? No, that's not going to be easy.
"We're going to be a different club without him. Everyone has to step it up a notch and play better. But white flag? No. A lot of people say that.
"We still have six games left with Detroit. Our goal is to sweep Detroit, but that's not easy. They have a good club; they're playing better than we are. Is it impossible? We're going to have a shot and hopefully a few guys here turn it around and at least give the team a shot to compete."
<p class="factboxheadblack">Scot Gregor's game tracker</p> <p class="News">Twins 4, White Sox 3</p> <p class="News"><b>No O: </b>The White Sox managed just 6 hits off Minnesota starter Jeff Manship and four relievers. They've scored 9 total runs during their five-game losing streak.</p> <p class="News"><b>Good riddance:</b> The Sox play their final game at the Metrodome on Wednesday afternoon, a place where they've lost 16 of their last 18.</p> <p class="News"><b>Danks does his job:</b> White Sox starter John Danks pitched 7 innings and allowed 3 runs on 6 hits. He allowed 2 solo home runs to Michael Cuddyer.</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=318260"> Sox sorry to see Thome, Contreras go<span class="date"> [9/1/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=318275"> Dye makes it through another round of trade rumorso<span class="date"> [9/1/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>