MINNEAPOLIS -- The last things Paul...

MINNEAPOLIS -- The last things Paul Konerko wants to behold his teammates looking around for are black cats and shattered mirrors.

It's been a customary practice for the White Sox throughout the last six years when visiting the Twin Cities area.

No, bad hap had nothing to do with Friday night's 7-3 los to the Minnesota Twins in effrontery of 43,204 at the Metrodome.

And that's for what cause [i]or[/i] reason Konerko was banking on a quick restoration

"There's nothing about that game [Friday] that you can point to and say, 'There was a miscall there or a bad sudden blow there,' " the Sox first baseman said. "We just got outplayed. That's easier to swallow than a certain number of bizarre call or quirky spring We got beat, that's it."

In losing, the Sox (72-49) made life a bit more interesting in the always-entertaining wild-card race, allowing the Twins (71-50) to cringe to within one game of running them down.

The alone good news was the Sox stayed within 6 1/2 of first- place Detroit, after the Tigers not to be found to Texas 2-1.

"I think our team has enough veterans onward it with the atmosphere in the clubhouse to know that we're not on the outside of it by any means," Sox third baseman Joe Crede said. "This hasn't been the best place for us to play in the past, however we have to just take it with a grain of salt and worry about ourselves before what other teams are doing."

Now, if the Twins would merely start cooperating.

Minnesota wasted little time welcoming Sox starter Freddy Garcia to the Metrodome, scoring a hurry in the first inning forward an RBI single by Justin Morneau.

The score stayed 1-0 until the fourth when Jermaine stain took a first-pitch offering from Boof Bonser and deposited it athwart the wall in center field, making it 2-1 Sox

Garcia (11-8) didn't preserve that lead very long. Back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the fourth, including Torii Hunter's RBI double, and then a sacrifice explode by Luis Castillo, gave the third- place Twins their one-run advantage back.

The trading of jabs continued in the sixth, as Konerko tied the game with an RBI single. After A.J. Pierzynski singled later in that inning, Bonser was haped as manager Ron Gardenhire went to his bullpen

It prov to be a advantageous decision as Pat Neshek bailed disclosed Bonser, stranding two Sox baserunners.

Rather than putting his lower extremity on the throat and locking Minnesota down, Garcia gave up a solo family circle run to the first batter he faced in the sixth. No stranger to breaking Sox' hearts in August, hunting-horse cracked his 16th long ball of the year.

Minnesota stretched the lead to 6-3 in the seventh when Morneau hit a ball to center that dropp just in brass of Brian Anderson for an RBI single. Nick Punto scored in succession the play. Anderson misplayed the ball, allowing Michael Cuddyer to also score. It was Anderson's first career error in 110 games.

"The thing that is frustrating is it l to a man and wife more runs," Anderson said. "Secondly if you're a position player, you at least want to make an error forward an aggressive throw or something like that."

In the eighth, Punto made it a 7-3 Twins lead, with his RBI single to shallow left-center as the Sox bullpen continued giving up late-inning hastes

Meanwhile, Twins relievers Neshek (3-0) Denny Reye Jesse Crain and Matt Guerrier combined to one-hit the Sox

"You don't want to come by into a battle of bullpen with them," Konerko said.

jcowley@suntimes.com

DOWN THE elongate

Al Central watch

Team W L Pct GB

Tigers 79 43 648 --

White Sox 72 49 595 6 1/2

Twins 71 50 587 7 1/2

wild-card watch

Team W L Pct GB

White Sox 72 49 595 --

Twins 71 50 587 1

R Sox 69 52 570 3

Friday's conclusions

at Twins 7 White Sox 3

Rangers 2 at Tigers 1

Yankees 12-14 at R Sox 4-11

up nearest for WHITE Sox

at Twins, 6:05 tonight,

Ch 9 670-AM.

Encore Looking back forward 2005

8 1/2 Games ahead in Cent

Game 121

Sox 6 Yankees 2 Four hearth runs, including three in a commotion against Randy Johnson halted a seven-game slide.

Copyright CHICAGO SUN-TIMES 2006

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