Morning Box Score

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Sep 15, 2010 1:15PM

Twins Shut Door On Sox
The Sox' chances at making a run at the AL Central took a major hit last night - perhaps were even snuffed out for good - in a tough 9-3 loss to the Twins. In fact, the Sox proved Benjy right last night as, down 4-3 with the bases loaded in the seventh, Manny Ramirez struck out (as did Paul Konerko) and the bullpen struggled, giving up five runs in the eighth to seal the Sox' fate. And we're not the only ones declaring the Manny Experiment a failure. Ozzie tried to remain optimistic even as the Sox fell seven games back of the Twins, saying, "I don't know if it's impossible, but it's going to be tough. There's still a lot of season to go, but in the meanwhile, we all know how important those next two games are." Gavin Floyd gets the start in game two of the series tonight (7:10 p.m., WCIU).

Cubs Clip Cards Yet Again
The Cubs continue to play half-decent ball even as the season has long since been moot for them, beating the rival Cardinals for a second straight game, this time 7-2. Once again, the Cubs eschewed power for small ball, using a bevy of RBI singles - including two each by Xavier Nady and Randy Wells - to build their lead. On the hill, Wells was just as effective, allowing just one run on five hits over eight innings of work. The Cubs will have a sweep on their mind when they send Carlos Zambrano to the hill tonight (7:15 p.m., CSN).