Morning Box Score

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Aug 11, 2010 1:00PM

Twins Overpower Sox, Overtake First
The battle for the AL Central is off and running and this morning there's a new first place team as the Minnesota Twins overpowered the White Sox last night 12-6. The Twins jumped on Freddy Garcia for an early 5-0 lead heading into the bottom of the second when Carlos Quentin cut into that lead with a three-run homer. But the Twins were too much, overpowering the Sox and taking a 10-3 lead before the Sox could score again. Garcia only lasted 2.1 innings, giving up six runs on eight hits while the bullpen didn't do much better, giving up another six runs. Paul Konerko remained optimistic after the game, even as the Sox dropped a game behind the Twins in the standings, saying, "You keep battling. There's a lot of battling left. You want to win a series and we can still do that." The Sox hope to keep battling and tie the Twins atop the division with a win tonight when they send John Danks to the mound (7:10 p.m., WGN).

Cubs Ride Early Runs To Win
It was bound to happen; hell, a broken clock is right twice a day. And even the 2010 Cubs win eventually. The Cubs pounced on Giants ace Tim Lincecum for four runs in the first inning on their way to an 8-6 win over San Francisco. Kosuke Fukudome homered and Starlin Castro had a two-run single as the Cubs kept pace ahead of the Giants who kept close enough to make the game interesting. Down 8-4, the Giants scored twice off of Carlos Marmol to keep close but the rally fell short and the Cubs got a rare win. Ryan Dempster got his 10th win of the year in spite of the rally and three errors by the Cubs defense. The team will now try to string together two wins in a row with Tom Gorzelanny getting the start later tonight (9:15 p.m., CSN).