Thome's 4 RBIs helps Sox hang on, 8-7 over Twins

MINNEAPOLIS -- Jim Thome drove in four runs for the Chicago White Sox, countering two home runs by ex-teammate Joe Crede in an 8-7 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday night.

Bobby Jenks picked up his 20th save, but nearly blew it when Jose Morales hit a two-run single with one out in the ninth after Crede's sharp grounder shot through Gordon Beckham's legs for an error to put runners at second and third. Denard Span grounded into a double play to end the game.

Crede hit a three-run shot in the fifth inning and a solo homer in the seventh against Gavin Floyd (7-6), giving him four home runs in eight games against the White Sox this season.

Beckham and Brian Anderson combined for five hits and two walks in the last two spots in the lineup, though, and helped keep Glen Perkins (4-5) from getting out of the fifth.

The Twins aren't generating any offense from the bottom of their batting order, one reason why they haven't climbed much higher than the .500 mark this year. No. 9 hitter Nick Punto is in a 3-for-30 slump.

Floyd got AL batting leader Joe Mauer to ground out to second base all four times he batted, including an inning-ending double play in the fourth. Crede's blast cut the lead to 5-3, but Floyd bounced back with a 1-2-3 sixth inning, pounding his glove in satisfaction after striking out Justin Morneau to retire the side.

Floyd struck out seven without a walk, his margin for error expanded when Thome's two-out, broken-bat bloop double bounced between Span and Carlos Gomez in left-center and stretched the lead to 8-3 in the sixth.

Perkins was supposed to start on Wednesday, but he woke up that morning with a high fever and badly sore throat that took away his appetite and was pushed back in the rotation by three days -- giving him nine days of rest between starts.

He just couldn't finish. All five runs in 4 1-3 innings came with one or two outs, and Paul Konerko turned on a 2-2 fastball -- the eighth hit against Perkins and his last batter -- and turned it into an RBI single.

Anderson, who had one hit in his past 17 at-bats, narrowly missed clearing the wall in right-center field for an RBI double in the second. He drove in Beckham with a single in the fourth after the rookie's two-out double.