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White Sox edge Twins

Aug 2, 2014 - 5:50 AM Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - Alexei Ramirez hit a go-ahead single in a four-run eighth inning and the Chicago White Sox held on for a 10-8 victory over the Minnesota Twins in a back-and-forth opener of a three-game set on Friday.

Jose Abreu finished 3-for-3 with two runs scored, an RBI and a walk, while Tyler Flowers and Ramirez both had two RBI for the White Sox, who have won six of their last eight games.

"Anything you throw up there, I think he's going to hit it hard," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said about Abreu. "He's as hot as anyone in the league."

Javy Guerra (1-2) recorded the final two outs of the eighth to earn the win. White Sox starter Chris Sale gave up five runs -- four earned -- on eight hits and a walk with seven strikeouts in six innings.

Kurt Suzuki drove in three runs, Kennys Vargas hit a two-run double and Chris Parmelee homered for Minnesota, which dropped its third straight game.

"You score eight runs with (Sale) starting the ball game, I bet Las Vegas would take those odds," said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire. "It seemed like every inning they scored. That's not going to win you too many games."

Casey Fien (5-5) was charged with four runs in the eighth inning while getting just one out. Twins starter Logan Darnell allowed four runs on five hits and four walks in four innings of work.

In the eighth, Adam Eaton and Abreu both singled off Fien around a Gordon Beckham strikeout to place men on first and third. Consecutive RBI singles from Paul Konerko and Ramirez gave the White Sox the lead.

Caleb Thielbar entered to get Conor Gillaspie to line out for the second out, but Flowers hit a sharp grounder to right off Jared Burton, scoring Dayan Viciedo, who slid under Suzuki's tag at home. Alejandro De Aza's RBI base hit up the middle made it a 10-7 game.

Brian Dozier, Trevor Plouffe and Josh Willingham all singled off Jake Petricka to start the ninth. Suzuki reached on a fielder's choice that scored Dozier. Petricka recovered to strike out Vargas and Oswaldo Arcia to earn his seventh save of the season.

In the second, De Aza reached on a force out with two gone in the frame. Moises Sierra chopped a line-drive triple to the right-field corner to plate De Aza. Eaton followed with a RBI bunt single for an early 2-0 lead.

Minnesota responded with five runs off Sale in the third. Dozier and Plouffe hit back-to-back singles and Willingham's base hit scored Dozier. Suzuki's double to left scored Plouffe and Vargas' ground-rule double to right plated two runs. Vargas reached third on catcher Flowers' passed ball and came home on Chris Colabello's groundout.

The White Sox tacked on a run in both the third and fourth. Ramirez reached on a force out with two outs in the third and came home on Gillaspie's double to right. Abreu provided an RBI single in the fourth to get Chicago within one.

Flowers' solo shot to right with two outs tied the game in the fifth and the White Sox took the lead in the sixth.

Abreu and Konerko both singled off Anthony Swarzek before Ramirez gave Chicago a 6-5 lead with a double to left.

The Twins evened the game in the seventh. A challenge overturned a call, giving Dozier a leadoff single. Dozier moved to second and third on consecutive groundouts and scored on Suzuki's base hit up the middle.

Eric Surkamp took the mound to start the eighth and struck out Arcia. Parmelee got ahold of a 3-2 fastball and crushed it over the right-center wall to give the Twins a 7-6 advantage.

Game Notes

Abreu has reached base in his last 10 plate appearances. It is the longest streak by a White Sox player since Frank Thomas reached in 15 straight appearances from May 16-20, 1997 ... Abreu extended his hitting streak to a career-high 21 games and has hit safely in 39 of his last 40 games ... Sale's four earned runs matched a season high ... Eaton has reached base safely in 18 consecutive games ... The season series is tied, 6-6.