MINNEAPOLIS -- Jake Peavys strong start for the White Sox reached a critical point with runners at the corners and Twins All-Star Joe Mauer at the plate. James Harrison Jersey . After paying Peavy a visit, Chicago manager Robin Ventura liked what he heard -- and what he saw after their talk. Peavy struck out eight over eight smooth innings, Alejandro De Aza hit a go-ahead infield single off Scott Diamonds leg in the eighth and the White Sox beat Minnesota 3-2 on Wednesday. Mauer popped out to end the eighth with speedsters Denard Span on third and Ben Revere on first. Ventura said he wasnt sure if hed leave Peavy in when he walked from the dugout to the mound. He wanted to make sure Peavy was still comfortable facing Mauer, the three-time American League batting champion, in that situation. "He still wanted it. I trust him," the first-year manager said. Peavy (9-7) allowed five hits and walked two. He said he was confident against Mauer, based on the way hed pitched to him previously. "Just decided to stay hard in and try to get a ball in the air," Peavy said. One of the runs Peavy gave up was unearned, due to a way-wide token pickoff throw to second base in the first inning that sailed into centre field. The miscue let Revere move to third, and he scored on Mauers groundout. Danny Valencia homered in the second, but Peavy toughened up after that to lower his ERA to 3.04 and notch just his third victory since May. Addison Reed pitched a shaky-but-scoreless ninth for his 18th save in 21 attempts and the White Sox improved to 9-1 in their last 10 one-run games. They have won seven of nine overall. "Just wanted to make it more interesting," Reed said, smiling. Brian Dozier flied out to end the game with runners on second and third. "Thats part of being a closer. I dont think it can always be clean," Ventura said. "Hes used to it. It doesnt seem to affect him, even in big games when it doesnt seem to go so well." Diamond (9-5) had one out in the eighth inning with Tyler Flowers on third when De Aza hit a sharp liner that glanced off Diamonds thigh. The right-hander was a bit stunned, and his short throw home was well off target as Flowers scored the go-ahead run. De Aza created his own run after leading off the game with a single, moving up on a stolen base, a groundout and Adam Dunns sacrifice fly. Flowers almost hit into an inning-ending double play in the fifth after a diving stop by Dozier, but the shortstop had trouble getting the ball out of his glove and Flowers beat the relay throw to first as Alex Rios scored the tying run. The AL Central-leading White Sox began the first day of the month 2 1/2 games ahead of Detroit. This is the fifth time since 2000 that they have started August in first place, and including their 2005 World Series title they made the playoffs in three of the previous four. Theyre in good shape to go again, with the addition of Francisco Liriano to a rotation deepened this year by youngsters Chris Sale and Jose Quintana and stabilized by Peavys return to good health. "One thing with the Whities: They have a good pitching staff, and youre going to face some tough pitchers. Doesnt matter which one they throw out there, including Liriano. Its going to be a battle scoring runs," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. Bothered by an elbow injury in 2008, an ankle problem in 2009 and shoulder trouble in 2010 and 2011, Peavy is back on track. This was his 21st start of 2012, his most since 27 turns in 2008 for San Diego. The 2007 National League Cy Young Award winner made a total of only 51 starts in the majors over the three seasons prior to this one. Satisfying? "Not yet. I feel excited to be able to help up to this point. But we want to win," Peavy said: "It certainly does feel gratifying to be able to be healthy for the team, like Ive wanted to be the whole time that Ive been here." NOTES: The White Sox are off Thursday before beginning a nine-game homestand by hosting the Los Angeles Angels on Friday. RHP Phil Humber (5-5, 5.90 ERA) pitches for the White Sox against Zack Greinke, who will make his second start for the Angels. ... Liriano will make his second start for the White Sox on Sunday, followed by Peavy on Monday. Sale will pitch Tuesday with 10 days of rest, and Quintana will throw Wednesday after an eight-day break while the White Sox use a six-man rotation to protect their young pitchers from overuse. ... The Twins start a four-game series in Boston on Thursday. RHP Samuel Deduno (2-0, 3.13 ERA), coming off his strongest of four starts this season, faces LHP Jon Lester (5-8, 5.49). ... The White Sox have drawn only two walks and committed seven errors in their last four games. Mike Wallace Womens Jersey . Levensons persistence paid off Monday as Ferry was introduced as the Hawks president of basketball operations and general manager. Levenson said Ferry, 45, was the only candidate he interviewed after Rick Sund, who had been general manager for four years, suggested three months ago it was time to look for new long-term leadership for the team. Ben Roethlisberger Jersey . "I think it was a cheap shot and I think it was dirty," Pierce said Tuesday night of the way Toronto Argonaut linebacker Brandon Isaac rammed his helmet into his chin Saturday. http://www.pittsburghsteelersforsale.com/isaac-redman-jersey . Germany fell in the fourth subdivision of the womens artistic gymnastics at the London 2012 Olympic Games - clearing the way for Canada to make the team final for the first time ever at a non-boycotted Olympic Games. Heath Miller Jersey . Lochte was the heavy favourite to win the event, having won gold at both the 2008 Olympic Games as well as the 2011 World Championships. The question of Thursday night was supposed to be whether the 27-year-old would have anything left, after winning the mens 200m backstroke, to pull off a second win in the mens 200m IM just a half hour later. Jonathan Dwyer Jersey . -- Defending womens champion Stephanie Dubois of Laval, Que.MIAMI -- Beyond the left-field wall, in the direction of downtown, fireworks began going off with the Miami Marlins leading by two runs and two outs from victory. Soon it was the Houston Astros who were celebrating. Carlos Lee drove in the tying run with a two-out single in the ninth inning, and an error by left fielder Logan Morrison allowed the go-ahead run to score Saturday night as Houston rallied to beat closer Heath Bell and the Marlins 5-4. Bell, one of the Marlins All-Star acquisitions this off-season, took the mound with a 4-1 lead to start the ninth but had a shaky performance for the third time in as many outings this season. "I thought I had good stuff," Bell said. "Apparently I didnt. I didnt get the job done." The Astros had four hits in the inning and scored four times, taking advantage of three Miami errors. The last miscue was by Morrison, who misjudged a slicing fly hit by Brian Bogusevic. Morrison staggered and fell as he tried to catch it, and the ball glanced off the heel of his glove, allowing a runner to score from third. "Its a tough one to swallow," interim manager Joey Cora said. "It got a little sloppy at the end." Two of the runs in the ninth were unearned, but Bell took full responsibility. "Its nobodys fault but mine," he said. Rhiner Cruz (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings. Brett Myers followed with a perfect ninth for his second save. "Were a scrappy ballclub," Myers said. "This is something we didnt do last year. Wed go out there and feel like we didnt have a chance. Thats one of the best closers in the game, and we went out there and battled as best we could and it ended up working out for us." Bell (0-2), booed when he departed after retiring only two of the seven batters he faced, blew a save for the second time in as many chances. "Its just really hard to look at my teammate and them have confidence in me," he said. "I havent showed that I can do it." Jose Altuve doubled with one out in the ninth to start Houstons comeback, and took third when centre fielder Emilio Bonifacio bobbled the ball for an error. Pinch-hitter Travis Buck singled home a run, and Jordan Schafer reached on catchers interference. With two outs, J.D. Martinez hit an RBI single. Lee folllowed with a tying single on the first pitch. Troy Polamalu Youth Jersey. The rally cost Carlos Zambrano his first win for the Marlins. He overcame six walks in six innings and left with a 4-1 lead. "Im not here to criticize my teammates," he said. "What happened happened." Houston starter Bud Norris gave up four runs in six innings. The Astros, last in the majors in 2011 with a 25-56 road record, improved to 1-1 on their first trip of the year and won in Miami for the first time since 2010. Announced attendance in the Marlins new 36,442-seat ballpark was 31,659, but for the second consecutive night there were about 10,000 empty seats. Fans are still waiting to see the animated home run sculpture in action, because the Marlins have yet to homer at home through three games. Hitters are beginning to grumble that the fences are tough to reach, and that was again the case. With the retractable roof open, Hanley Ramirez hit a 400-foot flyout to centre in the first inning. Houstons Jed Lowrie had a warning-track flyout in the third -- the fifth in the series for the two teams. "The wind was blowing," left fielder Martinez said. "It was like funnel out there. The ball Jed hit, that should have went way out." Norris conceded Ramirezs long fly worried him. "In all honestly, I think Hanleys ball in the first inning is gone in a lot of parks," Norris said. Zambrano walked Schafer three times and Martinez twice, but he stranded seven runners in the first four innings, and others were erased on the bases. The Marlins scored three times on the third. Ramirez, who was off to a 4-for-31 start, put the Marlins ahead with an RBI single. Morrison followed with a sacrifice fly, and a run-scoring single by Gaby Sanchez made it 4-1. Morrison had a two-out RBI single in the first. In the first three innings, Zambrano walked five, but the lone run scored on a first-inning single by Lee. NOTES: Omar Infante, tied for the NL lead in total bases, sat out with a sore groin but might return Sunday. ... For Astros broadcaster Milo Hamilton, Marlins Park is the 59th major league stadium from which he has worked. ... Lee made a leaping catch of a liner at first to rob Donnie Murphy of an RBI single in the third. ... Norris has an ERA of 6.51 in five career starts against the Marlins. ' ' '
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