Adam Dunn led off the third by blistering a double to left field. He moved to third on a groundout by Gordon Beckham, but Brent Morel's groundout wasn't nearly as productive. Dunn couldn't score on it, and the game remained 0-0.
Until one half-inning later, when Gavin Floyd temporarily lost his command, leading to ... let's count it down ... four (hits), three (runs), two (stolen bases) and one (walk). Delmon Young's two-run single was the death blow, giving the Twins a 3-0 lead and all the runs they needed.
Floyd ended up going the distance in the kind of game that's becoming his signature, as one bad early inning is enough to ruin his night. It was the fourth complete game of his White Sox career, and he's lost all of them.
Carl Pavano outpitched him tonight, but by how much is hard to tell because he was barely on the mound. He needed just 96 pitches to throw nine innings, and threw first-pitch strikes to 25 of the 32 batters he faced. The grounder was his friend, too -- he induced double plays in the second, fifth, sixth and eighth innings.
They mounted their most credible threat in the ninth inning, when Juan Pierre was able to ground a single off Luke Hughes' mitt, and Alexei Ramirez doubled him to second. Neither of them scored, because Carlos Quentin was miserable (his second strikeout of an 0-for-4 night), and Paul Konerko lined one back into Pavano's mitt.
At least Morel was able to redeem himself somewhat. After Beckham doubled to lead off the sixth, Morel drove him in with a single over the head of Alexi Casilla for the only White Sox run.
And then Pierre grounded into a double play.
Notes:
*The Twins stole five bases off Floyd and A.J. Pierzynski, including three by Michael Cuddyer, who doubled his season total.
*With two outs and a runner on second in the eighth inning, Ozzie Guillen called for an intentional walk of Brian Dinkleman. Just think about that.
*The game was completed in two hours and six minutes, the shortest game of the season.
Record: 33-36 | Box score | Play-by-play