White Sox 5, Twins 2: Hector Noesi dazzles

Hector Noesi picked up his third win in July and improved his record to 5-7 for the year after tonight's 5-2 White Sox victory against the Minnesota Twins. Over 7⅔ innings, he gave up just three hits and a walk while striking out three. His only blemish came in the bottom of the eighth, when Danny Santana hit his third home run of the season on Noesi's 110th pitch.

If that isn't good enough, he could have carried a no-hitter into the eighth if only Alejandro De Aza had longer arms. It was refreshing to watch tonight, because it assured that his performance against the Seattle Mariners on July 6  wasn't a fluke. Against below average lineups, Noesi is fully capable of putting together a quality start.

The White Sox did their heavy lifting in the fourth. Adam Dunn got it started by lining one off starter Phil Hughes' shin, causing him to leave the game. "Sad" Samuel Deduno replaced Hughes and struggled to record the third out, walking Tyler Flowers with the bases loaded for one run, and giving up a two-run single to Adam Eaton to make it a 4-0 game. Eaton had another great game, broken finger and all, going 3-for-5.

In the sixth inning, Gordon Beckham launched a first-pitch fastball for his 20th double of the season. De Aza followed with a comebacker. Deduno knocked it down, and instead of getting the easy out at first, he made the wise choice of trying to get Beckham at third, who was dead to rights on the play. Unfortunately, it would be another sad moment for Deduno as his errant throw bounced off the padding along the left field wall, allowing Beckham to score on what was a baserunning blunder.

Bullet points

• Jose Abreu's hitting streak is now at 14 games, and he has hit safely in 32 of his last 33 games.
• Jake Petricka picked up his fifth save, and might be the leading contender to reach double digits in saves this year. He's just one behind Matt Lindstrom and three behind Ronald Belisario, whose closing days might be behind him.
• Tonight was the first win at Target Field for the White Sox in 2014, after being swept by the Twins June 19-22.