White Sox Top Twins 7-6 On Balk, 2 Wild Pitches
CHICAGO (AP) — Leury Garcia reached on a bunt single in the 11th inning and came home on a balk and a pair of wild pitches by Samuel Deduno, giving Chicago White Sox a 7-6 win over the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday.
Before a crowd of just 10,625, Chicago came back from a 6-4 deficit in the ninth on Garcia's run-scoring single off Glen Perkins and Adam Eaton's RBI grounder.
The speedy Garcia bunted up the third-base line on an 0-2 pitch leading off the 11th and took second when, with Eaton at the plate, Deduno (0-1) never came to a set position and balked.
Eaton struck out, Deduno bounced an outside pitch that hit off Suzuki's glove as Garcia advanced, and Marcus Semien took a called third strike.
After an intentional walk to Jose Abreu, Deduno threw way outside on a 3-2 to pitch to Adam Dunn, and the ball hit off Suzuki's glove as Garcia came home.
Ronald Belisario (1-0) pitched 1 1-3 hitless innings for the win.
Dunn's solo homer in the eighth off Jared Burton pulled the White Sox to 6-5, but Kurt Suzuki hit a run-scoring double in the ninth against Daniel Wenn for a two-run cushion.
The game was delayed during the top of the seventh after Eaton appeared to catch Oswaldo Arcia's fly ball to center and then dropped it when he went to grab the ball from his glove. The play was ruled a catch, but the Twins challenged the call and it was overturned by a replay umpire in New York.
White Sox left-hander Felipe Paulino, back from elbow and shoulder surgery, made his first start since June 6, 2012, against Minnesota as a member of the Kansas City Royals He allowed two runs — one earned — and seven hits in 5 1-3 innings with six strikeouts and two walks. Paulino labored at times and threw 109 pitches.
Twins starter Kevin Correia gave up three runs — two earned — and five hits in six innings with five strikeouts and a walked.
Trevor Plouffe had three RBIs for the Twins, who took a 5-3 lead with a three-run seventh. Alexei Ramirez had a two-run double for the Whiter Sox.
NOTES: Twins reliever Casey Fien was diagnosed with a bruised left ankle when hit on a ball up the middle off Eaton's bat ending the seventh inning. ... White Sox C Adrian Nieto made his major league debut as a pinch runner in the ninth. ... White Sox 3B Conor Gillaspie (flu) was scratched from the lineup. ... LHP Jose Quintana starts for the White Sox in the series finale against the Twins, who start RHP Hughes in his Twins debut. ... Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said pitcher Brian Duensing (paternity leave) was to arrive in Chicago on Wednesday night and be activated before Thursday's game.
(© 2014by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.)