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Twins feed off Gardenhire's fire to topple White Sox

May 28, 2007 - 11:50 PM MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- It did not take the Minnesota Twins long to break out following the firey display of their manager.

Mark Redmond capped a five-run sixth inning with a three-run double as the Twins rallied for a 10-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox in the opener of a three-game series on Monday.

Prior to the offensive outburst by Minnesota, manager Ron Gardenhire had a heated discussion with the umpire crew. The controversy started after Chicago catcher A.J. Pierzynski hit into an inning-ending double play in the top half of the sixth.

Running out the play, Pierzynski apparently went to the inside of the base and clipped first baseman Justin Morneau's foot. In between play, some of the Twins were talking to Pierzynski from the dugout. First base umpire Greg Gibson attempted to stop the chatter, and subsequently made a slashing gesture across his throat.

The gesture brought Gardenhire out of the dugout and started the argument.

"He was just pointing to our dugout and telling us to knock it off," Gardenhire said. "I don't want my guys to get thrown out of a baseball game for something that happened out there. My guys are just baseball players and they reacted to a situation. He came from first base and he was giving me (the slashing sign), it just kind of got the old Oklahoman up in me."

"They thought that I stepped on Morneau's foot, to be honest I didn't even know that I did," Pierzynski said. "I would never try to hurt (anyone), especially Morneau, he is too good of a player. We don't want to make these guys mad because every time we do they score 10 runs on us. It was nothing, a misunderstanding."

Minnesota center fielder Torii Hunter echoed Pierzynski's sentiments.

"A.J. is a nice guy off the field," Hunter said. "On the field, I think he tries to get in your head a little bit and he did that. But actually, I guess he woke up a sleeping dog."

After a moment of silence to honor the country's servicemen, the Twins mirrored their skipper's intensity by grabbing the lead and knocking White Sox starter Jose Contreras (4-5) out of the game.

Trailing 4-3 after Paul Konerko delivered a two-run single in the top half of the sixth, Minnesota got its decisive rally going as Jason Bartlett and Jason Tyner both singled.

Luis Castillo advanced both runners with a sacrifice and Nick Punto plated the tying run when he outraced Contreras during a play at first base. After Punto stole second, Michael Cuddyer walked to load the bases before Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen pulled his starter in favor of Boone Logan.

The 22-year-old Logan did his job, getting reigning American League MVP Morneau to hit a grounder to the first baseman Konerko, enabling the White Sox to go home for the second out of the inning.

However, Hunter followed with a high chopping grounder off David Aardsma that bounced off home plate, enabling Punto to score the go-ahead run on the infield single. Redmond, who has filled in admirably for injured All-Star catcher Joe Mauer, ripping a line drive into left-center field that cleared the bases for an 8-4 advantage.

"It's funny, as players we root for choppers off the plate and 20-hoppers through the middle," Redmond said. "A lot of teams root for the home run, we're rooting for 20-hoppers up the middle and a blooper. Another chopper off the plate, that is good. That is Twins' ball."

That lead was more than enough for Johan Santana (6-4), who threw eight innings for his longest outing the season. The Cy Young Award-winning lefthander allowed four runs and seven hits and struck out seven for his second straight win.

Santana looked human early on, giving up a homer to Luis Terrero in the third and Konerko in the fourth.

"Everything was working pretty good," Santana said. "A couple mistakes, I left a couple of changeups in the middle, and they made me pay. Other than that, I tried to stay aggressive."

"We got him today," Guillen said. "Four runs against him is like scoring 20 against anybody else."

Hunter saved Santana from giving up another blast in the eighth, making a jumping catch at the center field wall to rob Jim Thome.

"When he hit it, I didn't pick up the ball until late," Hunter said. "It was almost over the fence by the time I picked it up. When I saw it, I just had to adjust and use that athletic ability."

The Twins added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth, when Hunter reached home on a throwing error by the catcher Pierzynski after stealing third and Jason Kubel doubled in Redmond.

Punto finished with three hits and two RBI and Tyner added three singles, including a run-scoring one during a three-run second inning.

Konerko had two hits and drove in three runs, his first multi-RBI performance since April 24, for the White Sox, who absorbed a loss for the third time in their last four games.

Contreras lost for the third time in his last four decisions on the road, giving up seven runs and 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings.

"We pitched real poorly today," Guillen said. "From the beginning, Jose had trouble finding the plate. And the bullpen did what they have been doing lately. They are not throwing the ball good."