Twins

Days after giving birth to twins, a South Carolina mother has been hospitalized for what doctors say is a rare flesh-eating infection. The development follows the similar affliction of a Georgia graduate student, who lost her left leg and may lose her fingers. But experts say the South Carolina case, though serious, is less severe than the Georgia one and caused by a different bacterium. Lana Kuykendall, 36, gave birth to healthy twins at an Atlanta hospital last week. When the new family of four returned to their home in Piedmont, the mother — who is also a paramedic —...

Chris Sale pitched seven sharp innings and Paul Konerko and Alex Rios backed him with home runs, leading the Chicago White Sox to a 6-0 win over the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night. Sale (5-2) held the Twins to two hits and two walks, striking out six. He has allowed three runs or less in all eight of his starts in his first year as a member of the Chicago rotation. Still showing a black eye after getting hit in the face by a pitch last Friday, Konerko had three hits and scored three times.

With his carefully tended hair, tight trousers and perfect harmonies, Robin Gibb, along with his brothers Maurice and Barry, defined the disco era. As part of the Bee Gees — short for the Brothers Gibb — they created dance floor classics like "Stayin Alive," ''Jive Talkin'," and "Night Fever" that can still get crowds onto a dance floor. The catchy songs, with their falsetto vocals and relentless beat, are familiar pop culture mainstays. There are more than 6,000 cover versions of the Bee Gees hits, and they are still heard on dance floors and at wedding receptions, birthday...

P.J. Walters tossed his first career complete game and Justin Morneau hit a three-run homer as the Minnesota Twins routed the Chicago White Sox 9-2 on Tuesday night. Walters, who gave up a solo homer to Gordon Beckham with one out in the first inning, threw a five-hitter. In just his third start of the season, Walters (2-1) struck out eight and walked two. The Twins jumped all over Gavin Floyd (3-5), scoring four runs in the second inning and five in the fourth. Morneau's homer chased the right-hander, who is 0-8 against Minnesota in his last eight starts, dating to Aug. 31, 2009.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Bronson Arroyo's intentions? Good. His logic? Misguided. His execution? Well, that conjured memories of former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach John McKay, who, upon being asked after one particularly unsettling defeat what he thought of his team's execution, responded, "I'm in favor of it. " The situation last night: Bottom of the first inning, bases loaded with Twins, one out, lefthanded slugger Justin Morneau at the plate. Morneau chopped Arroyo's initial offering just right of the mound, where Arroyo easily gloved it. There was a force play at home, but Arroyo pivoted and threw toward second in an attempt to...

ARLINGTON, Texas — Cliff Lee insists there’s no reason to panic despite his recent struggles. Lee gave up five runs in five innings and was outpitched by Minnesota’s Francisco Liriano as the Twins beat the Texas Rangers, 6-4, last night to avoid a four-game sweep. “I haven’t been locating pitches as well as I expect myself to and they haven’t missed them,’’ Lee said. “It’s just been a handful of pitches and they happened to capitalize on them. I’ve got to do a better job of staying out of the heart of the plate.

CLEVELAND — Fausto Carmona pitched a three-hitter for his first shutout in more than two years, slowing Minnesota’s surge this month and leading the Cleveland Indians to a 2-0 win over the AL Central-leading Twins last night. Carmona (12-14) had lost his last six decisions, falling 1-0 in a complete-game start against Seattle his last time out. The righthander dominated the Twins, who just completed an 8-1 homestand and lost for only the second time in nine games in September.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Those who believe in the paranormal might call it the Nomar Effect. Since trading deadline day in July 2004, when Nomar Garciaparra was told in the visitors' clubhouse here that he was no longer a member of the Red Sox, the Metrodome has been a chamber of some horror for the Sox. They'd lost seven of eight games to the Twins here since that Saturday afternoon when Theo Epstein bloodlessly dealt one of New England's favorite sons,...

Monday: LHP Jon Lester (0-2, 5.82) vs. RHP Jason Marquis (1-0, 7.20), 8:10 p.m., NESN Tuesday: RHP Josh Beckett (1-2, 5.03) vs. RHP Nick Blackburn (0-1, 5.56), 8:10 p.m., NESN, MLB Network Wednesday: RHP Clay Buchholz (1-1, 9.00) vs. RHP Liam Hendriks (0-0, 3.86), 8:10 p.m., NESN

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. -- A pair of twins who tried to dupe a judge in a larceny case have doubled the trouble they face. Yamahile Ortiz pleaded guilty to using a stolen credit card and was sentenced by New Britain Superior Court Judge Patrick J. Clifford to probation. Soon after, the public defender came before Clifford with Yamahile, 18, and her twin sister, Yaricza. Yamahile Ortiz had a simple explanation why her sister stood in for her at a hearing. "I had a final today," she said.

Gavin Floyd just can't find a way to beat the Twins. The White Sox right-hander dropped his eighth straight start against Minnesota on Tuesday, getting roughed up in a 9-2 loss to open a three-game series. Floyd (3-5) lasted just 3 ⅔ innings, gave up eight hits and nine earned runs and suffered his second straight loss. He was at a loss to explain the Twins' continued success. "I guess I've got to figure that out," Floyd said. "I wish I could pinpoint certain things … They have a good game plan against me apparently and I've got to change that and try to get...

Trevor Plouffe hit a solo home run in the top of the 11th inning to lift the Minnesota Twins to a 5-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday. Plouffe's fourth homer of the season came off Manny Parra (0-1) with two outs. Parra had retired the first two batters before Plouffe connected on a 2-0 pitch that landed in the Brewers' bullpen. Matt Capps, the fifth Twins reliever, got three outs for his ninth save while wrapping up the Twins' fourth straight win. The Brewers threatened to win it in the 10th when Corey Hart singled with one out off reliever Jeff Gray (3-0)

Jonathan Lucroy homered twice and had a career-high seven RBIs, Zack Greinke pitched six strong innings to improve to 14-0 at Miller Park, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Minnesota Twins 16-4 on Sunday. Lucroy connected on an 0-2 pitch from Jeff Gray in the seventh inning for his first career grand slam. The ball nipped the back edge of the padding in right before falling into the Twins' bullpen. A curtain call followed for the Brewers' catcher who batted cleanup for the first time in his three-year career.

Jason Marquis was hit hard in his shortest start of the season and the Minnesota Twins couldn't contain Jonathan Lucroy. Marquis allowed eight runs in 1 2-3 innings, done in by Milwaukee's six-hit, six-run second inning, and the Brewers went on to beat the Twins 16-4 on Sunday. Lucroy homered twice and had a career-high seven RBIs, and Zack Greinke pitched six strong innings to improve to 14-0 at Miller Park for the Brewers. In Milwaukee's second inning, Ryan Braun doubled in two runs, Lucroy had a bloop two-run single and Corey Hart and Travis Ishikawa each added run-scoring singles.

Scott Diamond lost his scoreless streak. He still won his third straight start for the Minnesota Twins, who pounded the Milwaukee Brewers 11-3 on Friday night. Diamond (3-0) gave up a run in the first, ending the 14-inning scoreless stretch he put together in two starts since he was called up from the minors. He went on to give up three runs and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings. Josh Willingham hit a two-run homer, his eighth of the season, Joe Mauer had three hits and three RBIs while Denard Span had four hits and three RBIs for the Twins.

Brewers manager Ron Roenicke will have to continue waiting for that key run to turn a game around. Reliever Manny Parra gave up Trevor Plouffe' solo home run in the top of the 11th inning and Milwaukee lost 5-4 to the Minnesota Twins on Saturday. The Brewers threatened in the 10th when Corey Hart singled with one out off reliever Jeff Gray (3-0). After Nyjer Morgan struck out, Ryan Braun looped the ball over second baseman Jamey Carroll and Hart raced to third on the play.

The Minnesota Twins announced yesterday they have picked up outfielder Michael Cuddyer’s $10.5 million option for 2011. Cuddyer hit a career-high 32 home runs to lead the team. He also had 94 RBIs and was sixth in the American League with 73 extra-base hits. When slugger Justin Morneau went out with a back injury in September, Cuddyer moved from right field to first base. He hit .352 with seven homers and 22 RBIs in the next 19 games as the Twins leapfrogged the Tigers and won the AL Central title.

The Minnesota Twins still have the worst record in the American League. Still in last place in their division, 12 games below the .500 mark. Still missing most of their stars to injury. Yet the energy has returned to their clubhouse. They’ve won nine of their last 11 games to cut the deficit in the AL Central from 16 ½ games to nine for a team with a history of second-half comebacks. As lousy as they played in April and May, well, plenty of time remains to rally in a division that no one has taken hold of. “Winning breeds confidence,’’ said Michael...

Justin Morneau hit a two-run home run in his second game back from a wrist injury and the Minnesota Twins held on for a 4-3 victory over the Tigers on Thursday in Detroit. P.J. Walters (1-1) allowed four hits - including three solo homers - in 6 1/3 innings for the Twins, who swept the two-game series. Minnesota has won two in a row for only the second time this season. Morneau's homer off Doug Fister (0-2) opened the scoring in the third, and Trevor Plouffe followed with a long ball.

Jim Leyland mentioned before Wednesday night's game that although the Detroit Tigers were struggling, they weren't playing sloppy baseball. Then the veteran manager watched his team make four errors in the first three innings. "I probably jinxed us when we said we weren't kicking the ball around, because we did that tonight," Leyland said. Jamey Carroll hit a two-run double in the sixth inning to give Minnesota the lead, and the Twins outlasted the Tigers 11-7 on Wednesday night.