White Sox 6, Twins 2: Rios pads lead for Peavy, Sox

After scratching and scraping and scrapping and ultimately getting screwed, Jake Peavy finally has 10 wins this season. Special thanks go out to Alex Rios.

Rios drove in all six runs with a pair of mighty blows, including a first-inning grand slam. That was enough for Peavy, who pitched out of some jams for six tough innings en route to his first victory since Aug. 1

For the second straight game, the Sox jumped on Minnesota pitching early. They loaded the bases on P.J. Walters with their first three hitters. Paul Konerko, as he is wont to do lately, popped out to second to threaten the momentum. Alex Rios gained it right back, ripping a 1-1 pitch over the left field wall for his second grand slam of his White Sox career.

Unlike Tuesday night, the starter didn't immediately surrender the lead. Peavy did run into a couple jams, the biggest one in the third. The Twins loaded the bases with two singles and a hit-by-pitch, bringing old friend Eduardo Escobar to the plate. Peavy limited Escobar to a sac fly to center for one run and one out, and ended the threat when Joe Mauer lined out hard to right.

They brought the tying run to the plate again in the fourth -- runners on the corners and one out -- but Peavy got Trevor Plouffe to pop out to third, and Matt Carson to ground out weakly to shortstop.

The Twins made Peavy throw a lot of pitches (107 over six innings), but they couldn't break him. He walked just one batter along with the HBP, and limited the Twins to four singles and a double otherwise.

Rios rewarded Peavy's toughness with another homer in the sixth inning, this one a no-doubter to center, to put the game out of reach. In the process, the Sox extended their lead to 1 1/2 games heading into an off day, meaning they'll hold onto first place in the AL Central for at least two more days.

Record: 74-62 | Box score | Play-by-play