Chicago, IL – Dayan Viciedo went 3-for-4 with a two-run home run and four RBI as the Chicago White Sox completed a three-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins with an 8-2 victory on Wednesday at U.S. Cellular Field.
Alex Rios smashed a two-run home run, Paul Konerko knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly and Kevin Youkilis added an RBI single before leaving the game early with a sprained ankle.
Jake Peavy (8-7) went six strong innings on the mound and allowed two runs -- one earned -- on six hits with six strikeouts and two walks to collect the win. Leyson Septimo, Jesse Crain and Hector Santiago closed out the triumph for Chicago, which earned a much-needed sweep after dropping five straight.
"The boys really stepped up and swung the bats well," Peavy said. "We just played solid team baseball. It was nice to come back from the short road trip and play well."
Nick Blackburn (4-6) was tagged with the loss after giving up eight runs on 10 hits with a walk and a strikeout over 4 1/3 frames. Denard Span scored a run on a double-play groundout and Justin Morneau added an RBI double in the loss for the Twins, who fell for the fourth time in five tries.
Minnesota opened the scoring in their first at-bat on Josh Willingham's double-play groundout, which allowed Span to score for the 1-0 lead.
But, after being turned away in the first, the White Sox plated two runs in each of their next four at-bats to build a comfortable 8-2 advantage.
Rios worked a one-out walk in the second and Alexei Ramirez doubled to put runners on second and third before both men scored on a single by Viciedo to give the White Sox the lead.
Gordon Beckham singled up the middle leading off the Chicago third and Alejandro De Aza followed with a base hit to right. He then stole second and Youkilis knocked home Beckham with a base hit to center. De Aza scored via a sac fly by Konerko later in the inning to extend the lead to 4-1.
The Twins got a run back in the fourth on Morneau's RBI double, but Viciedo launched a two-run shot to straightaway center field off Blackburn in the home half of the inning to widen the lead to 6-2.
Adam Dunn opened the White Sox fifth with a booming double to right and Rios brought him home when he got a first-pitch changeup from Blackburn and banged it over the left-field wall to account for the final margin.
"We got dominated here. We didn't really do too much today, it was an ugly ball game by us," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We had runners in scoring position -- I think we had second and third and no outs -- and we struck out three times. Those types of things aren't going to help you."
Game Notes
The White Sox improved to 10-1 in their last 11 home games...The ChiSox completed their seventh series sweep of the season...The White Sox last swept the Twins in Chicago from June 6-9, 2008...Chicago improved to 22-16 against the AL Central this season...Viciedo's four RBI were one short of a career- high. He knocked home five on May 26, 2012 against the Cleveland Indians...Minnesota went 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine runners on base.
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