Final
Garza's pitching, Morneau's homers power Twins past White Sox
Jul 7, 2007 - 4:52 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- The Minnesota Twins continued their offensive onslaught over the Chicago White Sox that began earlier in the day.Justin Morneau hit three home runs and Torii Hunter went deep for the second time in as many games as the Minnesota Twins crushed the Chicago White Sox, 12-0, on Friday, sweeping a day-night doubleheader.
In his first start of the season, Minnesota righthander Matt Garza (1-0) allowed five hits in six scoreless innings while striking out six and walking three.
"I didn't let the runs we were scoring change the way I was pitching, and how focused I'm supposed to be," Garza said. "I went out there, used our game plan and said, 'Hey, lets go after these guys.'"
The Twins' attack started in the afternoon game when they scored a season-high 20 runs on 21 hits. It was the most runs ever scored by Minnesota vs. Chicago.
"It was a good offensive day for us," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "All the way around, a long day, and a good day for our ballclub."
Morneau finished the night game with six RBI and nine total on the day. He is the fourth player in Minnesota franchise history to hit three home runs in a game.
"It was fun, I had never done that before," Morneau said. "We won both games, which is the most important thing."
Hunter also had five hits and four RBI in the two games.
Chicago starter Gavin Floyd (0-1), who was just called up Thursday from Class AAA Charlotte, gave up six runs, eight hits - including four homers - and four walks in 5 2/3 innings.
The Twins did have a bad moment when catcher Mike Redmond left the game in the bottom of the first after being struck in the head by a bat that got away from Jim Thome.
Redmond lay incapacitated near home plate for several minutes, bleeding profusely.
"It kind of shocked me, because the ball already went by," Redmond said. "When I grabbed under my helmet, I saw blood and I could feel it. I'm fine. I went and sat out in the dugout after about the fourth inning."
Redmond walked off the field and received stitches in Minnesota's clubhouse.
"I know (Thome) felt bad, so I went out there and made sure I got a chance to see him, so he wouldn't feel bad," Redmond said. "I know it was an accident."
The departure of Redmond called for Joe Mauer to resume his normal catcher duties, which forced Garza to cover Mauer's designated hitter slot. It was the first time a pitcher had an at-bat in an American League game since Hipolito Pichardo did it for Boston on July 31, 2000, at Seattle.
Morneau and Hunter hit back-to-back home runs in the third inning to make it 5-0. It's the third time the pair have gone deep consecutively this season.
"I know it happened three times this year, but all I wanted to do was put a good swing on the ball and get a base hit," Hunter said. "I end up hitting it out - you get lucky sometimes."
In a six-run seventh, Morneau's third shot of the night came off White Sox reliever Boone Logan. Three batters later, pinch hitter Jeff Cirillo hit a three-run shot to complete the scoring.
The Twins, who are 5-4 on their current road trip and seven games ahead of the White Sox in the American League Central, have won seven of their last eight games against divisional teams.
It was the seventh time Chicago has been shut out this season.
"It was hard, hard to watch, but we can't do anything about it," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "Those guys were piranhas last time we saw them, now they're like sharks."
- AL
FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
MINNESOTA 3 0 2 0 1 0 6 0 0 12 15 0
CHI WHITE SOX 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 (FINAL)
BATTERIES: MIN - MATT GARZA, MATT GUERRIER (7TH), JOE NATHAN (9TH) AND MIKE
REDMOND, JOE MAUER (1ST)
CHA - GAVIN FLOYD, BOONE LOGAN (6TH), MATT THORNTON
(7TH), BOBBY JENKS (9
Jul 6 11:15 PM - AL
AT CHI WHITE SOX - SCORING UPDATE (2ND GAME)
SINGLE BY LUIS CASTILLO SCORED NICK PUNTO.
SITUATION: 6 RUNS IN, L CASTILLO ON FIRST, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 12
CHI WHITE SOX 0 TOP, 7TH
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: J BARTLETT (.260, 1-FOR-4)
Twins vs. White SoxJul 6 10:42 PM - AL
AT CHI WHITE SOX - SCORING UPDATE (2ND GAME)
THREE-RUN HOME RUN BY JEFF CIRILLO (2) TO LEFT WITH 1 OUT
IN THE 7TH OFF BOONE LOGAN SCORED TORII HUNTER AND JASON KUBEL.
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 11, CHI WHITE SOX 0
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: N PUNTO (.207, 0-FOR-2, BB)
Twins vs. White SoxJul 6 10:36 PM - AL
AT CHI WHITE SOX - SCORING UPDATE (2ND GAME)
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY JUSTIN MORNEAU (23) TO LEFT WITH 1 OUT
IN THE 7TH OFF BOONE LOGAN SCORED JOE MAUER.
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 8, CHI WHITE SOX 0
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: T HUNTER (.302, 1-FOR-2, BB, HR, RBI)
Twins vs. White SoxJul 6 10:35 PM - AL
AT CHI WHITE SOX - SCORING UPDATE (2ND GAME)
SOLO HOME RUN BY MICHAEL CUDDYER (10) TO RIGHT WITH 2 OUT
IN THE 5TH OFF GAVIN FLOYD.
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 6, CHI WHITE SOX 0
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: J MORNEAU (.293, 2-FOR-2, 2 HR, 4 RBI)
Twins vs. White SoxJul 6 10:25 PM - AL
AT CHI WHITE SOX - SCORING UPDATE (2ND GAME)
SOLO HOME RUN BY TORII HUNTER (19) TO LEFT WITH 2 OUT IN
THE 3RD OFF GAVIN FLOYD.
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 5, CHI WHITE SOX 0
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: J KUBEL (.250, 0-FOR-1)
Twins vs. White SoxJul 6 10:13 PM - AL
AT CHI WHITE SOX - SCORING UPDATE (2ND GAME)
SOLO HOME RUN BY JUSTIN MORNEAU (22) TO CENTER WITH 2 OUT
IN THE 3RD OFF GAVIN FLOYD.
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 4, CHI WHITE SOX 0
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: T HUNTER (.301, 0-FOR-0, BB)
Twins vs. White SoxJul 6 10:13 PM - AL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
MINNESOTA 3 3 2 0
CHI WHITE SOX 0 0 0 (BOT 1)
CURRENT PITCHERS: MIN - MATT GARZA
CHA - GAVIN FLOYD
DUE UP FOR CHI WHITE SOX: J OWENS (.190, 0 HR, 0 RBI)
T IGUCHI (.253, 5 HR, 23 RBI)
J THOME (.278, 13 HR, 41 RBI)
Twins vs. White SoxJul 6 8:23 PM
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