Game Summary
Box score for Tuesday September 30, 2008—6:37 p.m. (CT) at US Cellular Field in Chicago, Illinois
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Twins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||||||||||
| Chicago White Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | x | 1 | 5 | 0 | |||||||||||
| WP: John Danks (12–9) LP: Nick Blackburn (11–11) Sv: Bobby Jenks (30) Home runs: MIN: None CWS: Jim Thome (34) |
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Both Blackburn and Danks held the game scoreless early on, allowing only six baserunners through the first four innings of the game. The Twins' Michael Cuddyer led off the top of the fifth with a double, the only Twins runner in scoring position for the entire game. Danks induced a deep flyball out from Delmon Young, which allowed Cuddyer to advance to third. Brendan Harris hit a deep flyball to center field which was caught for an out by Ken Griffey, Jr. Cuddyer tried to score on the ball as a sacrifice fly, but Griffey delivered an accurate throw to home plate and White Sox catcher A. J. Pierzynski blocked the plate and tagged out Cuddyer to end the inning. This play drew praise after the game as a "nice throw" and a "defensive gem".
The only run of the game scored when White Sox designated hitter Jim Thome led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a solo home run. Blackburn got Paul Konerko to ground out, but allowed a double to Griffey and, following an intentional walk to Alexei Ramírez, José Mijares relieved him. John Danks lasted through eight innings without allowing a run and was relieved by closer Bobby Jenks in the ninth. Jenks recorded three outs, securing the White Sox' 1–0 victory with his 30th save of the season. Twins batters Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, and Cuddyer had a combined 22 hits in 40 at-bats (.550 batting average) against Danks for their careers but in the tie-breaker they combined to go 1–for-9 (.111) with 3 strikeouts. This game saw the lowest combined score of any tie-breaker game in MLB history, three runs lower than the 3–1 score of the first game of the 1951 National League tie-breaker series.
Read more about this topic: 2008 American League Central Tie-breaker Game
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