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White Sox beat Twins 6-1 to tie for first

Aug 12, 2010 - 4:16 AM By ANDREW SELIGMAN AP Sports Writer

CHICAGO(AP) -- Ozzie Guillen was afraid he would wake up to a panicking city had the Chicago White Sox lost this one. Well, he can rest easier.

John Danks pitched eight sharp innings and the White Sox beat Minnesota 6-1 on Wednesday night to move back into a first-place tie with the Twins in the AL Central.

Carlos Quentin homered in his second straight game while helping the White Sox draw even again after being knocked out of first place for the first time since July 10 with a 12-6 loss to the Twins on Tuesday.

They fared better this time after dropping four of five, with a rare victory over a team that had won 18 of 23 against them.

"It's great for us because all of a sudden, I didn't want to wake up tomorrow morning and (there) be people in Chicago panicking about it," Guillen said.

Danks (12-8) allowed one run and six hits. Quentin hit a two-run shot in the second off Glen Perkins (0-1) that made it 2-0, and the White Sox continued to pile on from there, taking advantage of two throwing errors that helped set up runs on their way to an easy win.

Alex Rios singled in a run in the third, and the White Sox broke it open with three more in the fifth on an RBI single by Juan Pierre, an RBI double by Alexei Ramirez and a throwing error by shortstop J.J. Hardy.

That was enough for Danks, who kept the Twins in check after they got five homers from five different players in a game for the first time since May 2, 1992. He is 5-1 in his last seven starts.

"I hate pitching against this team, I'm not going to lie to you," said Danks, who is 6-6 lifetime with a 5.01 ERA against Minnesota.

The Twins got two hits apiece from Michael Cuddyer and Joe Mauer, who has 27 in his last 50 at-bats after going 2 for 4. Otherwise, it was a painful night for Minnesota.

Perkins got knocked out in the fifth in his first start since Aug. 2, 2009, and the injuries piled up for the Twins.

Hardy got lifted for a pinch-hitter in the top of the seventh after experiencing pain in his left wrist, the same one that has sent him to the disabled list twice this season. And reliever Jose Mijares injured his left knee in the eighth. He expects to have an MRI on Thursday or Friday, and manager Ron Gardenhire said he will probably go on the disabled list.

Mijares had just come in to start the eighth when he landed awkwardly covering the bag on Quentin's leadoff single to first.

He raced over and pulled up as first baseman Cuddyer dived for the base. The pitcher fell to the ground, clutching his knee, stayed down for a few minutes and then jogged toward the outfield and back before being removed.

For Perkins, it was simply a rough night. Called up from Triple-A with Kevin Slowey nursing a sore elbow, he lasted just 4 2-3 innings and allowed five hits and six runs while hitting Quentin twice.

"We made a lot of mistakes and it cost us a lot of runs," Gardenhire said.

Things got particularly ugly in the fifth, when Pierre singled in Omar Vizquel after fouling a squeeze off Mauer's left leg. Ramirez followed with an RBI double off the left-field wall and came around with two outs when Hardy bounced a throw to first after fielding Paul Konerko's grounder, making it 6-0.

Perkins then hit Quentin for the second time, leading to a warning from plate umpire Mike DiMuro and the hook from Gardenhire. He brought in Ron Mahay, who retired A.J. Pierzynski on a grounder to short to end the inning.

"It's unfortunate that happened," Perkins said. "I was trying to make a pitch and yanked it a little bit. I definitely didn't hit every spot tonight and that was one of the times I didn't hit the spot I was trying to throw."

Guillen said if Quentin was hit purposely, the order wasn't coming from the Twins' bench.

"I'm not 100 percent he did it (on purpose)," Guillen said. "I know 100 percent it did not come from the bench. I can guarantee you that."

NOTES: 2B Gordon Beckham was back in the White Sox's lineup after missing two games with a strained right groin. ... Chicago's RF Andruw Jones was scratched because of a sore back. ... Hardy doesn't expect to miss much time. ... Gardenhire said after the game that reliever Jon Rauch is day to day after spraining a toe on Tuesday.