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| Crede powers White Sox past Twins CHI WHITE SOX 10, MINNESOTA 6 |
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By Gene Chamberlain PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer CHICAGO (Ticker) -- After three straight losses, Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen exploded Sunday in a rant, throwing batting coach Greg Walker and his players under the bus while even challenging general manager Kenny Williams. What a difference a few runs make. The White Sox got two home runs from Joe Crede and Carlos Quentin's deflected home run to right field highlighted a six-run fifth inning that keyed a 10-6 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night. "I wanted some offense," Guillen said following Chicago's fourth straight win. "They made me shut up - I got some offense." The White Sox had four runs total in those three losses and have 31 runs in winning their last four games. "I think we're getting those big hits now," said Crede, who had his seventh career multi-homer game. "I just think with the weather warming up it seems like as the weather gets hotter, our offense will go that way as well. "I don't anticipate this team being down all year long." Quentin's 16th home run of the season was the sixth and final hit of the big inning, and struck the upper webbing of right fielder Michael Cuddyer's glove before falling over the fence into the Minnesota bullpen. Coming off a one-game absence due to a wrist bruise, Crede matched a career high with four hits. Teammate Jermaine Dye homered and Minnesota's Cuddyer, Alexi Casilla and Carlos Gomez also homered on a night when batters benefited from 22 to 38 mile per hour wind gusts blowing out of U.S. Cellular Field. With 16 hits, the White Sox came within one of a season high. They shelled Twins starter Nick Blackburn (4-4) after four innings, as he allowed eight hits and a season-high seven earned runs. "It was a rough night for us pitching-wise," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "The ball was flying all over the place. Blackburn didn't make many good pitches. He didn't make any adjustments and he simply failed to get outs." The six-run fifth inning matched Chicago's single-inning season high and helped starting pitcher Javier Vazquez (6-4) go 5-0 in his last seven starts against Minnesota despite giving up nine hits in 5 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out four. "It (the offensive explosion) makes it a lot easier when you don't have your best stuff," Vazquez said. The first-place White Sox rallied from a 3-0 deficit against Blackburn and matched their biggest lead of the season in the AL Central at 3 1/2 games over Minnesota. Crede's leadoff home run in the third and a double play grounder that scored Quentin in the fourth had cut the Twins' lead to 3-2. Then Chicago put together six consecutive hits in the fifth. Nick Swisher and Crede singled and Alexei Ramirez beat out a bunt single down the third base line before Orlando Cabrera singled to left to plate Swisher. A.J. Pierzynski followed with a two-run double down the right field line to chase Blackburn, and Quentin greeted Juan Rincon with a homer on the first pitch. Crede's second home run and 12th of the year led off the sixth against Rincon after Cuddyer had homered to left off Vazquez in top of the inning. The Twins loaded the bases after Cuddyer's homer in the sixth, but White Sox reliever Octavio Dotel escaped the jam by striking out Gomez and getting Casilla to ground out. Dye hit a 404-foot home run to center in the seventh off reliever Brian Bass. Minnesota took its 3-0 lead in the third. After Gomez's homer, Casilla singled and scored on Joe Mauer's double to left. Then Mauer raced home on Justin Morneau's double to right. Casilla hit a two-run ninth-inning homer to right off Esteban Loaiza in the righthander's first appearance since signing with the White Sox on Wednesday. Practically hung in effigy throughout Chicago's south side while the offense struggled, Walker even showed up in the locker room after the shelling had ended to take a few bows for the production. "We're like a dysfunctional family," Walker said about reports he and Guillen were at odds. "I love Ozzie like a brother. His family knows mine, mine knows his." Asked if perhaps Guillen's tirade had merely been a mind game from a master diamond psychologist, Walker smiled. "I think if he had thought of that, he'd have tried it already by now," Walker said. "He was just mad." |
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