Twins pound Buehrle in 13-7 win over Sox

[July 13, 2009]  MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Carlos Gomez drove in a career-high five runs and the Minnesota Twins had an unusually productive afternoon against White Sox ace Mark Buehrle in a 13-7 victory over Chicago on Sunday.

Buehrle (9-3) gave up eight runs and 10 hits in 3 1-3 innings, his shortest outing of the season.

Gomez, Brendan Harris and Denard Span homered against Buehrle, who has beaten Minnesota more times than any other opponent. Coming into the game, Buehrle was 23-13 with a 3.72 ERA lifetime against the Twins and 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA this season.

Harris and Span each had three RBIs. Gomez finished with three hits and scored three times.

Scott Baker (7-7) gave up five runs and six hits in 6 1-3 innings for the Twins, who took two of three from the White Sox heading into the All-Star break.

The signs were there from the beginning that this was not going to be Buehrle's day.

The big lefty made what looked to be a very heady play in the first when Span's bunt rolled down the first-base line. Buehrle slid as he gave chase, but deftly maneuvered around the ball without touching it as it trickled foul.

The athletic play took away what would have been a sure hit for Span, but two pitches later he homered to right field.

Gomez hit a three-run homer in the second and Harris added an RBI double to give the Twins a 5-0 lead and start activity in the White Sox bullpen. When Harris hit a two-run homer with one out in the fourth to make it 8-1, Buehrle was done.

Jim Thome hit his 555th career homer, a three-run drive in the sixth, and Alexei Ramirez beat out an infield hit with the bases loaded in the seventh to make it 8-5. But Matt Guerrier got Jermaine Dye to pop out to second to end the threat.

Span added two walks and two stolen bases, and Gomez, the precocious 23-year-old known as "Go-Go" in the clubhouse, humorously tried to stretch a ground-rule double into a triple before third base coach Scott Ullger pointed him back to second.

His two-run single in the seventh gave the Twins some breathing room at 10-5 after the White Sox creeped back into the game.

The Twins did all their damage offensively without any help from AL batting leader Joe Mauer, who went 0 for 5 and struck out four times for the first time in his career.

NOTES: White Sox rookie 3B Gordon Beckham had two errors, including one in the seventh that allowed a run to score. ... Span's drive in the first was his first career leadoff homer. ... Twins C Mike Redmond snapped an 0-for-16 slump with a single in the second inning. ... Dye had some fun before the game, throwing a couple of balls in from the outfield during a mascot T-ball game. Justin Morneau must have missed it because he was thrown out by RF Dye while trying to turn a single into a double in the fourth.

[Associated Press; By JON KRAWCZYNSKI]

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.