Minnesota Twins crush Chicago White Sox: Denard Span clears bases with double
The two goliaths have been on the trail towards Central Division glory for quite some time now. The Chicago White Sox were playing hosts in their encounter against the current division leaders, Minnesota Twins. The ball clubs were greeted and jeered by 29,223
fans in the stands of the U.S. Cellular Field Stadium.
The home team has been on the path to subdue and overtake their opponents for the last two weeks. And last night provided a chance to cut the deficit to at least 3 wins. But, before such an ambition could be fuelled, there had to be a form of motivation
to bolster their intent. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case last night.
The Twins began their night with the bat in hand. The side welcomed the hosts on the mound as the fixture got underway. The action stayed quite during the first half of the game. The pace picked up after that when Minnesota opened the game with the first
batch of runs. The scoring came in the top 5th and Delmon Young was the first to break the deadlock. He smashed a stellar 392 feet homer to the left to bring the side on top. James Jerry Hardy followed the act with a double to the left and then
a sprint to the last base off a single to the centre by Denard Span. The innings ended with the visitors leading by 2 runs.
Chicago did not take long to reply and they did so quickly in the bottom 5th. Omar Vizquel was responsible for the rally as he began the innings with a double to the left. He stole second and sat in wait for an opportunity. Gordon Beckham was
on the plate and pitcher Francisco Liriano walked him to the first base. The player moved to second when Juan Pierre grounded out to the pitcher. With the bases occupied by Minnesota hitters, Alexei Ramirez came in and delivered the equalizing shot as his
hit went for a single to the centre and got the two other basemen through for the 2 precious runs.
Both teams were tied even and the White Sox capitalized again. This time the move came in the bottom 6th and much was owed to Paul Konerko who established the lead through good play. He started off with a single to the left. He moved to the second
when Ramirez was walked and he moved up ahead after Carlos Quentin singled to the left. The hitter ran home when Anthony John Pierzynski grounded into double play. The move got Chicago on top instantly and then piled pressure on the rivals.
The Twins didn’t take a lot of time to respond as the side went back up in the top 7th due to some good work from all hitters. John Danks welcomed Young with a pitch hit and that spelled the distress in the starting pitcher’s dipping form. Young
moved to the second base when Danks delivered a wild pitch. The ball club was now prepared to apply some damage on the hosts and Danny Valencia provided the opportunity when he singled to the centre and forced an error from central fielder, Alex Rios to get
Young through for the equalizer. Hardy came in and did his job on making the opponents suffer more. His double hit to the deep centre got Valencia through for the lead run in the game. The damage had been done as the side was now back on top.
Much to the disappointment of the fans, the Twins climbed out of reach again and this time the top 8th innings became the centre stage for the endeavour. Joe Mauer started the session with a single to the centre. He scored the 5th when
Jason Kubel doubled to the deep centre. Young was intentionally walked and Thome was given the same treatment. The basses were now filled to the brim and things looked bad for the Chicago side. The 6th run came from Valencia’s following walk and
Kubel entered his name in the books. Span walked in for the side when Hardy was struck out and he drove in an incredible three runs as he slammed a double to the centre to get all basses through for 3 additional runs.
That marked the end of the game and the visitors won the game from the White Sox, 9-3.
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