Sox Lose 12-6, Twins Lead Division

Freddy Garcia surrendered 6 earned runs in 2.1 innings Tuesday.

On a warm night in Chicago, White Sox starter Freddy Garcia was cold and the Twins took advantage of not just the Sox’s pitching, but sole possession of first place in the AL Central.

"It was a very, very bad game from the beginning," Sox skipper Ozzie Guillen said.

Joe Mauer went 3 for 5
with 3 RBI's Tuesday.

Garcia could not get through the third inning surrendering six earned runs on eight hits. Joe Mauer’s hot bat was as sizzling as the Chicago humidity, recording three RBI’s in the first two innings. Jim Thome and JJ Hardy went yard along with Mauer as the Twins built a 5-0 lead and sent Garcia to the showers.

Tony Pena came in but could not put the Twins’ bats at bay. Twins outfielder Michael Cuddyer doubled to deep right scoring a pair and also sent one into the bleachers in the 6^th after Carlos Quentin countered an inning before with a three-run homer, his twenty-third of the year. Twins led 10-3 halfway through the sixth.

Guillen was not pleased and understands these Twins are no pushovers. "It was so boring, I was checking the scoreboard for no reason, and I see the Twins are 14 games over .500 against the Central (30-16)…That's the reason they're in first place right now."

Sox manager Ozzie Guillen in a 12-6 loss.

Sox catcher Ramon Castro took a more proactive approach to tonight’s beating, "(It) was one of those days where nothing worked for us. They were hitting everything. Tomorrow is another day."

Whenever the Sox got close, the Twins added insurance and made the game that much more out of reach. When the Sox put up three runs in the second, the Twins progressively answered with five runs over the next four innings. When the Sox scrapped two runs together in the sixth, the Twins responded with a Jason Kubel homer in the eighth. 

With eight games remaining against a tough ball club in Minnesota, it is no time to get down. Paul Konerko, who had two hits and an RBI, said afterwards "You keep battling. There's a lot of battling left. You want to win a series and we can still do that."

John Danks (11-8) will try to get the Sox back to their winning ways tomorrow against the Twins’ Glenn Perkins. Perkins has not pitched since August 8^th of last year.