Justin Morneau carries Twins to 7-5 victory over White Sox

With two home runs in the final 3 innings, Justin Morneau made an already-negative day for the Chicago White Sox even worse.

Morneau hit a towering grand slam in the 7th inning to give the Minnesota Twins a 5-3 lead over the White Sox, and he put the game out of reach in the 9th inning with a second solo home run for the 7th and final run that the Twins would score. His explosion came on the heels of the White Sox trading one of their most productive players, Alex Rios, away to the Texas Rangers earlier in the day.

For Morneau, the two blasts were his 12th and 13th of the year as he pushes towards the end of his contract, and this is a reminder of his previous prowess as a former MVP. He was really the lone stand-out for Minnesota’s offense on the day, but the Twins were graced by the return of slugger Josh Willingham from a long-term injury.

On the White Sox side, they looked to be in the driver’s seat for a rare win before Morneau’s explosion, and it was yet another frustrating outcome. The Alex Rios trade was simply the final white flag for the season, but his departure will hurt the on-field product despite the real, contractual implications of jettisoning him.

It was a tale of two outcomes in this particular game, as Morneau’s stock begins to rise again while the White Sox’s fate bottoms out in a major way.