White Sox snap eight-game slide by edging Twins

Jose Abreu hit an RBI double off the right field wall to drive in Mark Payton with the winning run as the Chicago White Sox snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday afternoon in Minneapolis. The game was tied 3-3 when Payton led off the eighth with a popup to shallow right that bounced out of second baseman Nick Gordon's glove for a two-base error. Abreu then drove in Payton with his 38th double of the season off hard-luck loser Caleb Thielbar (4-3). Payton finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs. Abreu had two hits, Romy Gonzalez had an RBI triple and a run and Josh Harrison added two hits and a run for Chicago (77-79), which moved a game ahead of the Twins (76-80) into sole possession of second place in the American League Central with six games to go. Reynaldo Lopez (6-4) picked up the win with a scoreless inning of relief. Liam Hendriks earned his 34th save of the season. Minnesota's Luis Arraez went 2-for-4 with a walk and a run to increase his batting average to .315, moving ahead of Aaron Judge (.313) in the race for the American League batting title. Gordon had a two-run double and Ryan Jeffers drove in a run with a safety squeeze for the Twins, who finished the season with a 46-35 mark at home. Minnesota jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning with four hits against Chicago starter Lucas Giolito. Carlos Correa, Arraez and Gio Urshela had back-to-back-to-back singles to load the bases with one out. Gordon then drove in Correa and Arraez with a double into the right field corner. Chicago tied it 2-2 in the third. Harrison led off with a single and scored when Gonzalez hit a sinking liner past diving right fielder Matt Wallner for a triple. One out later, Payton drove in Gonzalez with a single. The White Sox took a 3-2 lead in the sixth when Payton and Jose Abreu led off with back-to-back singles. After both runners advanced on a groundout by Gavin Sheets, Payton scored on a sacrifice fly by Andrew Vaughn. The Twins tied it in the bottom of the sixth thanks to the speed of Billy Hamilton. Gary Sanchez led off with a walk and Hamilton, who pinch-ran for him, then stole second and third and scored on a squeeze bunt single by Jeffers. --Field Level Media