Justin Morneau homered for the first time in almost two months, a two-run shot that helped the Minnesota Twins to a 7-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday.
Morneau's third homer of the season followed an RBI single by Josh Willingham in the sixth off Deunte Heath after ace Chris Sale's night ended after five shaky innings. Morneau last went deep on April 28. The 2006 AL MVP has three seasons of 30-plus homers.
His teammates teased him in the dugout after he rounded the bases, pretending to ignore him. So Morneau gave out a bunch of air high-fives, a light moment on a night when several Twins enjoyed fine performances. Brian Dozier reached base four times, including a three-run homer in the second against Sale (5-6).
Glen Perkins pitched a perfect ninth for the second game in a row, recording his 18th save in 20 tries, after Kevin Correia (6-4) pitched into the seventh.
The White Sox have dropped six of seven to fall to 29-40. They're 11 games under .500 for the first time since an 11-22 record on May 6, 2011.
If Sale is struggling, that's almost a sure sign the White Sox are in trouble too. The lanky left-hander failed to reach the sixth inning for the first time in his last 10 starts, giving up four runs and eight hits. He also walked two, hit two batters and threw a wild pitch.
Four of Sale's five strikeouts were notched with his first four outs, but the second inning was a rough one. Oswaldo Arcia hit a sharp comebacker that Sale got a glove on to protect his body, but in doing so he jerked his midsection backward and flipped over from the momentum. Arcia had a one-out single, and Sale stayed in the game after he was checked out. Then Clete Thomas walked, and Dozier's two-out drive -- his fifth homer of the season -- put the Twins in front 3-1.
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Right before that, as Sale covered first base to barely get Pedro Florimon on a 3-1 groundout, the pitcher appeared to twist his left ankle after trying to slow down and pivot toward the diamond as the runners moved to second and third. That prompted a second manager-trainer visit to Sale. He didn't show any discomfort after that, but he never found his form.
Trevor Plouffe's RBI single in the third inning extended the lead, and the Twins left eight men on base over Sale's five innings. Sale is 0-4 in four starts this month, but in 26 1-3 innings he has allowed only nine earned runs.
Alejandro De Aza's fourth leadoff home run this season was not nearly enough for the White Sox, who crept closer against the Twins bullpen but ran out of outs to give. Correia gave up just five hits and two runs in 6 2-3 innings without a walk. He struck out six.
