Thome bites hand that fed him in Twins' 7-6 win over Sox
MINNEAPOLIS - White Sox designated hitter Jim Thome ended the Twins' season with his mammoth home run in the 2008 AL Central tiebreaker game at U.S. Cellular Field.
Less than two years later, did Thome turn the tables on his old teammates Tuesday night?
It sure seems like it.
After playing with more heart than they have in any game all season - the White Sox rallied from an early 4-0 deficit and took a 6-5 lead in the top of the 10th inning on Alexei Ramirez's RBI single - Thome promptly broke it with a 2-run blast off Matt Thornton in the bottom of the 10th to give Minnesota a 7-6 win at Target Field.
"Our offense battled all night," Thornton said. "That's the only thing that hurts for me. I don't care who hits a home run. We lost the game."
And the Sox lost another game in the standings, as they now trail the Twins by 4.
"We fought, we fought back," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "They scored 4 runs (off John Danks) in the first inning, and I thought it would be tough to come back. Our bullpen in the end is still struggling. It seems right now, whoever we bring in doesn't get the job done."
With Bobby Jenks back but unavailable, Thornton gave up a leadoff single to Delmon Young, and Thome followed with the Minnesota's first walk-off homer in their new stadium.
"I will take that matchup again," Guillen said. "Jim is a very, very strong man. He's been doing that for a lot of years."
The Twins seem to have had the White Sox' number since Thome was a rookie, but the rivalry has seemingly been friendly between the two teams.
Not true, Guillen said.
"It's not a friendly rivalry," Guillen said before the Sox and Twins played a rough-and-tumble game not seen since July 2004, when Minnesota's Torii Hunter wiped out catcher Jamie Burke at the plate. "I hate them. As soon as the game starts, we hate each other."
Adding to the Sox' frustration level was Minnesota starter Glen Perkins twice hitting Carlos Quentin last Wednesday at U.S. Cellular Field after the right fielder crushed a 2-run homer during his first at-bat.
That prompted a warning from Mike DiMuro, even though the Sox didn't hit a batter. As a matter of fact, the Twins hit seven White Sox batters this season, and had only one of their hitters plunked, heading into Tuesday's series opener.
That hit total remains the same, but at least the Sox sent a message of sorts.
Sergio Santos buzzed Minnesota's J.J. Hardy with a pitch in the eighth inning, and Hardy grounded the next pitch to Gordon Beckham.
With Delmon Young running from third base on the play, Beckham fired home to catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who absorbed a high blow to the head from Young but hung on for the out.
Dirty play?
"It kind of seemed that way, but I like when baseball is aggressive," Guillen said. "If anyone has a problem with that, there's still a way they can resolve their problems. That's not the manager's job to get in the way."
<p class="factboxheadblack">Scot Gregor's game tracker</p>
<p class="News">Twins 7, White Sox 6 (10)</p>
<p class="News"><b>Missing Jenks:</b> After J.J. Putz blew consecutive save tries against the Tigers, Matt Thornton failed to hold a 6-5 lead in the bottom of the 10th inning, allowing a 2-run homer to Jim Thome that almost landed in St. Paul.</p>
<p class="News"><b>Forgotten hero:</b> Alexei Ramirez tied the game at 5-5 with a home run in the ninth inning. In the 10th, he put the Sox in front with a run-scoring single.</p>
<p class="News"><b>Bad blood:</b> Tempers ran high in the eighth inning. White Sox reliever Sergio Santos almost hit J.J. Hardy in the head, and Delmon Young did hit A.J. Pierzynski in the head during a collision at the plate.</p>
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<li><a href="/story/?id=401610">Jenks could be ready to pitch Wednesday<span class="date"> [8/17/10]</span></a></li>
<li><a href="/story/?id=401619">Guillen fed up with talk of Twins' dominance<span class="date"> [8/17/10]</span></a></li>
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