Justin Morneau gave the Twins an early lead on Tuesday night with a solo home run in the second inning. The Twins saw that lead vanish in the third and then a Boof Bonser throwing error allowed 3 runs to score in the sixth inning which gave the White Sox a 4-1 lead. The offense for the Twins continued to fail. They weren't getting timely hits and when they had runners on base they were hitting into double plays. Another loss seemed imminent until the eighth.

The rally started off on a controversial call at first base where Mike Redmond was called safe as Paul Konerko missed the tag by millimeters. Nick Punto followed up with as single and Jason Bartlett provided a double to score Redmond. Luis Castillo made the first out of the inning but also brought the Twins within a run with Punto scoring. Jason Kubel was called on to pinch hit for Josh Rabe and struck out. Torii Hunter came up with a huge single to tie the game. The game eventually went into extra innings.

In the bottom of the 10th, Castillo led off with a double and Hunter was intentionally walked. Michael Cuddyer made the second out of the inning and it all came down to Morneau. Justin delivered his most powerful blast of the season with a shot several rows up in the right field upper deck.

Game Notes

• Bonser pitched OK with the exception of a very costly error in the sixth inning which extended the inning and allowed 3 runs to score. He allowed 8 hits, but walked just 1. He was responsible for all 4 Chicago runs, but was charged with just 1 ER. Boof threw 70 of 95 pitches for strikes, but as has been common, he tired near the end of the game.
• Joe Nathan pitched a perfect ninth inning and Juan Rincon got the win after pitching the 10th.
• Torii Hunter had just one hit, but it was the big one that tied the game in the eighth. The hit also extended his hit-streak to 22 games.
• Jason Kubel is struggling and clearly visible. I had high hopes for him, but I'm starting to lose patience. I still hope Gardy will stick with him for a while longer though, it's not like we have many better options anyway.

• WPA Leader: Justin Morneau (.502)
• Runner Up: Torii Hunter (.236)

Detroit defeated Seattle 9-7 and the Indians are currently leading the Angel in the seventh inning, so it looks like the Twins will not gain any ground on those teams, but they'll have their chance at both teams in the coming week.