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White Sox Fall To Twins

Chicago,  IL (SportsNetwork.com)  - Oswaldo Arcia's RBI triple capped a ninth- 
inning  rally that lifted  the Minnesota Twins to a wild 10-9 victory over the 
Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field. 

Arcia's  first  hit of the  young season  followed Trevor Plouffe's single off 
Matt  Lindstrom  (0-1) that  tied the  score at 9-9,  and enabled Minnesota to 
avoid being swept in the season-opening three-game series. 

Chris  Colabello  drove in a career-high  six runs on  a pair of doubles and a 
groundout earlier in the contest, while Plouffe finished 2-for-4 with two RBI. 
Josmil  Pinto belted a  solo homer in the top of the eighth that forged an 8-8 
tie,  right  before Marcus  Semien put  Chicago back ahead  by homering in the 
bottom of the inning. 

The White Sox  had battled back from  a 5-1 deficit after 4 1/2 innings, with 
Jose  Abreu going  2-for-4 with  four  RBI to  help fuel  the comeback.  Tyler 
Flowers  collected  a career-best  four hits  and Adam  Dunn slugged a two-run 
homer that aided Chicago's cause. 

Chicago  starter Jose  Quintana pitched well in a no-decision, permitting five 
runs  --  just two of which  were earned --  while striking out eight over six 
innings. 

Lindstrom  came on in  the ninth to protect a 9-8 lead given to him by Semien, 
who snapped an 0-for-13 skid to begin the season by launching an offering from 
eventual  winning pitcher  Caleb Thielbar  (1-0) over  the wall  in left.  The 
Chicago  closer  retired two  of the  first three hitters,  but Plouffe took a 
full-count  pitch the  other way for a base hit that plated pinch-runner Jason 
Bartlett with the tying run. 

Arcia,  also mired in an 0-for-13 rut, then stepped to the plate and crushed a 
Lindstrom slider to the wall in center as Plouffe circled the bases. 

The White Sox  brought the tying run to  third in the bottom of the ninth, as 
Dayan  Viciedo delivered  a one-out,  pinch-hit double  off Twins  closer Glen 
Perkins  and  advanced a  pass when  Arcia's relay throw  from right field got 
away. 

Perkins,  who  blew  a  save  chance by  allowing  two  ninth-inning  runs  in 
Wednesday's  7-6 loss,  did manage to escape trouble by getting Alexei Ramirez 
to  line right to shortstop Pedro Florimon and inducing a game-ending grounder 
to Paul Konerko. 

"To  be up four runs and then be down three runs and battle back and then they 
take  the lead,  that's a character win for sure right there," said Colabello. 
"A lot of great at-bats by a lot of guys today." 

Twins  starter Phil  Hughes held the White Sox to one run over the first four 
innings,  but was  hit hard in the fifth  as Chicago began to climb out of its 
5-1 hole. 

Adam Eaton began the rally with a leadoff triple and Abreu doubled him home in 
front  of  Dunn's mammoth homer  to right  that suddenly pulled Chicago within 
5-4. 

The White Sox  then scored four times against reliever Anthony Swarzak in the 
sixth to pull ahead. One-out singles by Flowers and Leury Garcia and a walk to 
Eaton  loaded the bases, and Semien worked a game-tying free pass before Abreu 
drilled  Swarzak's  curveball off  the center-field  wall for a bases-clearing 
triple that put Chicago up by an 8-5 count. 

"We did a good job rallying back," said Flowers. "The enthusiasm in the dugout 
has  been  great this  first series.  If you look  at the  series, it's a good 
series, a good way to start the season." 

Chicago's  Nate  Jones began the seventh  by walking Brian Dozier and Mauer in 
succession,  with both  coming around  to score  on a  Colabello grounder  and 
Plouffe single, respectively. 

Pinto  then led off the eighth by connecting off Ronald Belisario to create an 
8-8 deadlock that Semien erased in the bottom of the frame. 

Quintana  was let down  by his defense during a 36-pitch third inning in which 
the Twins scored three times to erase a 1-0 deficit. 

Minnesota's Eduardo Escobar avoided an out on two occasions  during the frame, 
reaching  first after  striking out on a  ball that skipped past Flowers for a 
wild  pitch  and  taking  second  when first  baseman  Abreu  was  called  for 
obstruction on Quintana's successful pickoff play. 

Quintana  then issued  a pair of walks  to fill the sacks for Colabello, whose 
sinking  liner  to right got  by a diving  Avasail Garcia for a bases-clearing 
double. 

Colabello  struck again in his next at-bat, following consecutive fifth-inning 
singles  from  Mauer and Josh  Willingham with  an opposite-field smash to the 
base  of  the right-field wall  that sent home  both runners and increased the 
lead to 5-1. 

Chicago  had taken  an early 1-0 edge  on Alejandro De Aza's third homer in as 
many games, a leadoff blast in the bottom of the second. 

                                   Game Notes 

Colabello's  six RBI  were one  more  than his  previous career  best, set  at 
Houston  on  Sept. 2 of  last season  ... Quintana led  the majors with 17 no- 
decisions  last  season ...  Prior to  the game,  the Twins activated reliever 
Brian  Duensing from the paternity list and optioned pitcher Michael Tonkin to 
Triple-A  Rochester  ... Dunn has homered  in back-to-back games for the first 
time  since June  10-11  of last  season  ... White Sox  third baseman  Conor 
Gillaspie sat out a second straight day with the flu. 

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