Technik » Alex Ovechkin, who has 26 goals. Sc

MINNEAPOLIS -- Joe Mauer drove in two runs, including the go-ahead double in the eighth inning, to push the Minnesota Twins past the Chicago White Sox 4-2 Thursday night. After rain delayed the first pitch by 2 hours and 6 minutes, the Twins stopped their season-high, five-game losing streak. Mauer, in the middle of the worst year of his six-time All-Star career, also hit a tying single in the third. After 18 games without an RBI, Mauer has three in three days. With Jake Petricka (0-2) pitching with runners at the corners with no outs, Mauer hooked a drive down the left-field line. Kurt Suzuki tacked on a sacrifice fly. Glen Perkins tossed a scoreless ninth for his 18th save in 20 tries, after a bad back kept him from pitching Wednesday in Boston. Casey Fien (4-4), who subbed as the closer Wednesday and gave up two homers in the 10th inning in a 2-1 loss to the Red Sox, returned to the eighth-inning role and earned the victory that really belonged to Yohan Pino. Pino at age 30 became the oldest Twins player to make his major league debut, holding the White Sox to two runs in seven innings. Josh Willinghams home run in the second, the first time in 10 starts that Jose Quintana surrendered a long ball, gave Pino a brief lead. But after a walk by Gordon Beckham loaded the bases in the third, Connor Gillaspie smacked a two-run single into centre field. Over the last nine games, Twins starters have a 2.41 ERA. Pino struck out seven and allowed five hits and one walk. He signed with the Twins more than 10 years ago, but after reaching Double-A in July 2007 he bounced up and down between the top two levels of the minors over the following six seasons. He pitched for four teams each in Double-A and Triple-A. Traded to Cleveland in August 2009 for Carl Pavano, Pino played for three organizations until rejoining the Twins this year. When the Twins sent Sam Deduno to the bullpen, Pino was the pick after posting a 9-1 record and 1.92 ERA with 61 strikeouts in 61 innings for Triple-A Rochester. Two of his seven starts were shutouts. Having gained valuable experience in the Venezuelan Winter League, Pino has become good enough at changing speeds and throwing breaking balls for strikes to make up for an average-at-best fastball. Given the length of his journey and the positive impression he has made on the team, the Twins were extra excited to see him take the mound. Pino struck out Jose Abreu the first two times he faced the rookie slugger. Abreu became the third-fastest to reach 20 home runs when he went deep Wednesday against San Francisco in his 58th career game. Quintana has had another solid season for the White Sox, his third, but a lack of assistance has persisted. His average run support, 4.11 per nine innings, is the second-lowest in the American League since his debut in 2012. Winless in four starts this month, Quintana struck out six in seven innings while allowing six hits and a walk. Home plate umpire Mike Muchlinski took a hard foul tip off the bottom of his mask in the fourth. He finished the inning after being checked on by Twins trainer Dave Pruemer but was replaced for the fifth inning by crew chief Mark Wegner. A three-man group was used for the rest of the game. NOTES: Willingham has six homers in 24 games since returning from his rehab assignment for a broken wrist, but he entered the night in a 1-for-19 slide. ... The Twins will send Ricky Nolasco (4-5, 5.66 ERA) to the mound on Friday, and Hector Noesi (2-5, 5.37 ERA) will pitch for the White Sox. ... The White Sox announced their June 10 rainout against Detroit will be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader on Aug. 30. Rich Gedman Jersey .C. Lions. The clubs former starting quarterback, assistant and head coach returned Thursday as its receivers coach. Andrew Cashner Red Sox Jersey . -- Terry Francona likened the atmosphere at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday to a playoff game in October. https://www.cheapredsox.com/ . Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas appeared to be on track to gain election from the Baseball Writers Association of America on Wednesday, and Craig Biggio could join them. Rafael Devers Jersey . Ontario Superior Court Case Management Master Ronald Dash released the decision on Monday, saying John McCaw Jr. must testify in front of a jury by live video conference. Moores lawyer, Tim Danson, asked the court to compel McCaw - who is based in Seattle - to testify in the case back on February 27. Eduardo Nunez Jersey . The Toronto Argonauts (11-7) look for an opportunity to repeat as CFL champions when they host the surging Hamilton Tiger-Cats (10-8) on Sunday.ST. LOUIS -- David Backes scored twice and Jaden Schwartz added a goal and two assists to lead the St. Louis Blues over the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-3 on Thursday night. St. Louis has won eight of 11 overall. At 13-2-2, the Blues tied Boston, Pittsburgh and Minnesota for most home-ice wins. Toronto lost its third in a row. Alexander Steen, Derek Roy and Chris Stewart scored for St. Louis, which has points in its last six games against Toronto. The teams met for the first time since Nov. 10, 2011. Nazem Kadri, Nikolai Kulemin and James van Riemsdyk scored for the Maple Leafs, who got two goals in the final 5 1/2 minutes. Brian Elliott, appearing in his third successive game, made 19 saves to improve to 6-1-1. Steen scored his 22nd goal, second in the NHL to Washingtons Alex Ovechkin, who has 26 goals. Schwartz recorded the second three-point game of his career. St. Louis scored three times in the first 16::10 to chase goalie James Reimer, who faced 15 shots.dddddddddddd It was the seventh time this season the Blues have sent a starting goaltender to an early exit. Backes got the first and last goals of the game. He beat Reimer with a 20-foot wrist shot at 4:48 of the first period. He scored into an empty net for his 15th goal and giving him 29 points, one more than his total for all of last season. Schwartz and Roy scored 3:11 apart to push the lead to 3-0. NOTES: St. Louis took 36 shots to Torontos 22. The Maple Leafs have outshot their opponents only four times this season. ... The Blues are 18-1-2 when scoring first. ....Toronto D Paul Ranger played in his 300th NHL game. ... St. Louis has scored at least two goals in all 17 home games this season. ... Maple Leafs D Dion Phaneuf served the final game of a two-game suspension for a hit on Bostons Kevan Millar on Sunday. .... Toronto has not won in regulation in its last 12 games. ' ' '