White Sox complete sweep of Minnesota
CHICAGO (AP) – Switch-hitter Nick Swisher homered from both sides of the plate and the Chicago White Sox completed a dominant four-game sweep, beating the Minnesota Twins 7-5 Monday for their seventh straight victory. Paul Konerko hit a go-ahead home run as Chicago sent Minnesota to its fifth loss in a row. The White Sox outscored the Twins 40-15 in the series.
The White Sox went 7-0 on their homestand and increased their AL Central lead to 61/2 games over Minnesota. Chicago has hit 19 home runs during its winning streak.
The White Sox trailed 5-4 when Cabrera doubled against Matt Guerrier (3-2) to start a three-run rally in the seventh. Alexei Ramirez singled and Carlos Quentin tied it with an RBI grounder. Konerko followed with his eighth home run of the season.
Matt Thornton (2-1) pitched one scoreless inning to get the win in relief of John Danks, who gave up four earned runs and eight hits in six innings.
Royals 3, Yankees 2
NEW YORK – Jose Guillen finished off his big series against the New York Yankees in style, hitting a tiebreaking solo home run off Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning to lift Kansas City.
Guillen went deep on an 0-2 pitch from Rivera (2-2), pumping his right arm as he watched the ball sail over the fence while rounding first base. Rivera turned around and shouted several times after the drive – a rare show of emotion for the longtime closer.
It was Guillen’s 11th homer of the season and fourth in the last three games. He went 9-for-16 in the four-game series with four homers and 10 RBIs, and also scored six runs to help the Royals gain a split.
Yasuhiko Yabuta (1-0) got Bobby Abreu to ground out with runners on first and second to end the eighth and earn his first major league win. Joakim Soria got his 14th save.
Mike Mussina, bidding to become the first 10-game winner in the AL, allowed two runs and seven hits in eight innings. He is 8-1 with a 3.11 ERA in his last 10 starts.
Mariners 3, Blue Jays 2
TORONTO – Miguel Cairo’s safety squeeze after Jason Frasor walked the bases loaded in the 10th inning lifted the Seattle Mariners over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Frasor (1-1) walked Raul Ibanez leading off the 10th. Pinch-runner Willie Bloomquist stole second and Adrian Beltre struck. Frasor then intentionally walked Jose Lopez and walked Wladimir Balentien to load the bases.
Brian Wolfe came on to face Cairo, who bunted back to the mound, scoring Bloomquist.
Giants 3, Nationals 2
WASHINGTON – For the second straight day, San Francisco came alive in the fifth inning against a starter making a one-game visit from Triple-A, and the Giants beat the Washington Nationals.
Consecutive hits by Ray Durham, Randy Winn and Bengie Molina chased Tyler Clippard, who was promoted from Columbus, to help the Giants sweep the four-game series.
Matt Cain (3-4) allowed one run and eight hits over 6 1-3 innings to get his first victory since May 13 for the Giants, who outscored the Nationals by a combined 22-4 in the series.
San Francisco has won six of eight overall, and its seven-game road winning streak is its longest since 2003.
Clippard (0-1), whose previous big league experience was a 3-1 record in six starts for the New York Yankees last year, allowed three runs and five hits with four walks and six strikeouts in 4 1-3 innings in his Nationals debut.
Copyright Associated Press 2008