Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) - J.B. Shuck's pinch-hit RBI single during the eighth inning lifted the Chicago White Sox to their first win of the season, a 5-4 decision over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday.
Conor Gillaspie finished 3-for-4 with an RBI single, Adam LaRoche and Geovany Soto each homered and Avisail Garcia also knocked in a run for the White Sox, who opened the season with four straight losses.
Starter Jeff Samardzija gave up four runs on eight hits with six strikeouts over seven frames, while Zach Duke (1-0) tossed a scoreless eighth for the win.
Danny Santana supplied two hits, an RBI and a run scored for the Twins, who took the series opener 6-0 on Friday. Starter Mike Pelfrey lasted five innings, giving up four runs on seven hits.
Chicago used three straight two-out hits to go ahead in the eighth. Twins first baseman Joe Mauer failed to hold on to the ball on a tag and Alexei Ramirez was safe. After Gillaspie greeted Blaine Boyer (0-1), Shuck's liner to shallow left scored Ramirez, but Gillaspie was thrown out at home to end the frame.
David Robertson struck out the side in the ninth for his first save of the season.
Trevor Plouffe opened the Minnesota second with a liner to right for a leadoff double, moved to third on Oswaldo Arcia's groundout and raced home on Chris Herrmann's triple to right.
Shane Robinson followed by chopping a breaking ball into right, bringing home Herrmann for a 2-0 score. Robinson stole second and took third on a throwing error before Santana and Brian Dozier each provided RBI singles for a 4-0 lead.
In the home half, LaRoche responded with a towering leadoff blast to left- center field. Garcia hit a first-pitch slider to right for a ground-rule double and scored on Gillaspie's grounder to left two batters later to cut the deficit to 4-2.
With the bases loaded and no outs in the third, Garcia's grounder deflected off Pelfrey to get the White Sox within one. Pelfrey, however, got out of the jam after Ramirez hit into a double play and Gillaspie grounded out.
Soto kicked off the fourth by cranking a 3-2 fastball just over the wall in center for a tied game.
Game Notes
The White Sox avoided their first 0-5 start since 1974 ... Twins infielder Eduardo Escobar missed the game due to the birth of his son ... Minnesota right-hander Phil Hughes is slated to oppose Chicago left-hander Chris Sale in Sunday's rubber match ... Following the contest, the ChiSox optioned infielder Carlos Sanchez to Triple-A Charlotte.
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