Gavin Floyd was given a a luxury none of his rotationmates have been able to enjoy -- a four-run lead after one inning. He gradually gave it all back, and in the most painful fashion imaginable. Lots of pitches (25 in the second, 28 in the third, 25 in the fourth), lots of pitching from the stretch, an inability to throw his breaking ball for strikes, and consequently an inability to finish hitters.
He even committed an error -- that wasn't scored as such -- when he fielded Alexi Casilla's bunt, and then couldn't decide whether to tag him or throw it. He decided on the latter too late, and his soft toss to Paul Konerko was late. Casilla ended up scoring in the third, and only an amazing pick by Brent Morel on a hot smash by Tsuyoshi Nishioka prevented further damage.
Of course, it wouldn't have been a fan-murderer if Floyd hadn't provided the hope that he would escape the fourth with a 5-3 lead. He had a 1-2 count on the .164-hitting Rene Tosoni, but Tosoni laid off a couple breaking balls to work the count full before lining a two-run single to tie the game.
That was it for Floyd, but Will Ohman didn't help him out. Ohman got ahead of the soft-hitting Luke Hughes with two strikes, and Hughes worked the count full. Ohman threw a fastball, Hughes jumped on it, and the Twins scored the last of their seven unanswered runs.
The White Sox offense, meanwhile, packed it in after the first-inning flurry. They pounded Nick Blackburn for five runs, including an RBI double by Paul Konerko, a two-run homer by Adam Dunn, back-to-back doubles by Carlos Quentin and Alex Rios, and an RBI single by Gordon Beckham. That gave the Sox six hits in the first inning, and they had five over the last eight.
Record: 43-47 | Box score | Play-by-play