MINNEAPOLIS — Jake Peavy struck out a season-high nine, and Alex Rios homered to help the Chicago White Sox to a 3-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night.

The White Sox, who have won three in a row since being swept by the Tigers, grabbed second place in the American League Central, eight games behind the Tigers. The Indians are 8 1/2 games back.

“We’re still in the pennant race,” manager Ozzie Guillen said. “I know it’s going to be hard. … One thing about it, we’re not going to quit.”

Peavy (7-7) allowed four hits and two walks in 6 1/3 innings against a club that had three players called up from Double-A in the past two days.

Alejandro De Aza had two hits, including a triple, and an RBI, and Sergio Santos got his 29th save for the White Sox, who have won eight of 12.

Liam Hendriks (0-1) allowed three runs and four hits over seven innings in his major league debut. Chris Parmelee had two hits in his first game as a pro, but the Twins lost for the 14th time in 17 games.

The White Sox are in the middle of a stretch of 28 straight games against the AL Central, but they have only three games left against the Tigers (Sept. 12-14 in Chicago).

Boston 14, Toronto 0: Jon Lester struck out 11 in seven innings, Marco Scutaro and David Ortiz each had four hits, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Josh Reddick homered for the visiting Red Sox. Lester (15-6) allowed three singles and walked one to improve to 4-0 with a 1.16 ERA in five starts since losing at Minnesota on Aug. 10.

Texas 8, Tampa Bay 0: C.J. Wilson pitched a five-hitter, and David Murphy had four hits and four RBIs for the visiting Rangers. Wilson (15-6) matched his career high in wins from last year and became the first Texas left-hander with 15 or more wins in consecutive seasons. Kinsler tied his own team record, set in 2009, with his seventh leadoff homer this season in the first. He has 26 homers this year, including five in his past six games.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jake Peavy struck out a season-high nine and Alex Rios homered to help the Chicago White Sox to a 3-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night.

Peavy (7-7) allowed four hits and walked two in 6 1-3 innings against a Twins team that had three players who were called up from Double-A in the last two days.

Alejandro De Aza had two hits, including a triple, and an RBI, and Sergio Santos picked up his 29th save for the White Sox, who have won three in a row and eight of 12.

Liam Hendriks (0-1) allowed three runs and four hits over seven innings in his major league debut. Chris Parmelee had two hits in his first game as a pro, but the Twins lost for the 14th time in 17 games.

Paul Konerko, who hasn’t hit a homer in his last 60 at-bats, got a much-needed day off, but the White Sox still managed to scratch together enough offense for Peavy. Brent Morel added an RBI single as the Sox beat the Twins for the eighth time in the last nine games in the series.

The White Sox are in the middle of a stretch of 28 straight games against the AL Central, but they only have three games left against division-leading Detroit. The Tigers beat the Indians 10-1 on Tuesday night, keeping the White Sox eight games back.

“We’re still in the pennant race,” manager Ozzie Guillen said. “I know it’s going to be hard. … One thing about it, we’re not going to quit.”

There was a time when the Twins owned the White Sox, going 29-7 against them in a stretch that included six straight victories to open 2011. But the wheels have come off for a Twins team that expected to contend for a third straight division title.

Calling up Hendriks, Parmelee and center fielder Joe Benson from Double-A New Britain gave the Twins three players in the starting lineup making their major league debuts for the first time in franchise history, according to research by the Elias Sports Bureau.

Benson misplayed a fly ball from De Aza in the fifth inning, diving for it and letting it get past him for a triple. Morel followed with a single to give the White Sox a 3-0 lead.

That was plenty for Peavy, who stranded runners on third base in the second and fourth innings but never really ran into trouble all night long. Joe Mauer went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts, hearing plenty of boos when Matt Thornton got him swinging in the eighth.

The Twins were shut out for the 12th time this season, tied a season high with 14 strikeouts and have managed just two runs in their last four games. They trail the Tigers by 22 games in the Central and were officially eliminated from the playoff race on Tuesday night.

NOTES: The Twins said Justin Morneau will go through early batting practice on Wednesday to test his concussion symptoms. Even though he is not on the DL, he will have to get approval from Major League Baseball before being cleared to return to the field. When he does, Morneau will only DH and not play 1B. … The last team to debut at least three players in the starting lineup on the same day was the San Diego Padres, when they had four in 1986. … The last time three Twins made their big league debuts in the same game was April 7, 1999, against Toronto, when Joe Mays, Dan Perkins and Mike Lincoln all came out of the bullpen. … Guillen said he considered giving Konerko one of the games of Monday’s doubleheader off, but wanted to get him a full day’s rest. Konerko will be back in the lineup on Wednesday night. … White Sox OF Juan Pierre went 0 for 4 and remains two hits shy of 2,000 for his career. … RHP Carl Pavano (7-11, 4.60) takes the mound in the series finale on Wednesday night against White Sox LHP John Danks (6-10, 4.01). Danks is just 2-7 on the road this season, the fourth-lowest winning percentage in the majors. But he’s 6-2 with a 2.85 ERA over his last 12 starts after starting the season 0-8 with a 5.25 ERA. Pavano is 2-1 with a 1.50 ERA in three starts against the Sox this year. He’s given up an AL-high 221 hits this season and has allowed nine or more in eight of his last nine starts.

If this was Jake Peavy’s last start of the season, he’ll definitely be going out on a high note.

Peavy struck out a season-high nine and Alex Rios homered to help the Chicago White Sox to a 3-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night.

Peavy (7-7) allowed four hits and walked two in 6 1-3 innings against a Twins team that had three players who were called up from Double-A in the last two days.

After the game, Peavy was asked about being shut down for the rest of the season. The 30-year-old right-hander has been plagued by shoulder problems for the last two years, and he said he was “worn down and tired” as the season enters its final month.

“I can go either way,” Peavy said. “Whatever they see fit. Whatever they want me to do.”

Alejandro De Aza had two hits, including a triple, and an RBI, and Sergio Santos picked up his 29th save for the White Sox, who have won three in a row and eight of 12.

Liam Hendriks (0-1) allowed three runs and four hits over seven innings in his major league debut. Chris Parmelee had two hits in his first game as a pro, but the Twins lost for the 14th time in 17 games.

Paul Konerko, who hasn’t hit a homer in his last 60 at-bats, got a much-needed day off, but the White Sox still managed to scratch together enough offense for Peavy. Brent Morel added an RBI single as the Sox beat the Twins for the eighth time in the last nine games in the series.

“Every time he’s on the mound, we feel great stuff is going to happen,” manager Ozzie Guillen said of Peavy. “That’s the kind of pitcher he is. He’s been up and down a few times, but always in the back of our minds we know he’s one year off of major surgery. We just hope when he’s back on the mound, he can do the same stuff.”

The White Sox are in the middle of a stretch of 28 straight games against the AL Central, but they only have three games left against division-leading Detroit. The Tigers beat the Indians 10-1 on Tuesday night, keeping the White Sox eight games back.

“We’re still in the pennant race,” Guillen said before the game. “I know it’s going to be hard. … One thing about it, we’re not going to quit.”

There was a time when the Twins owned the White Sox, going 29-7 against them in a stretch that included six straight victories to open 2011. But the wheels have come off for a Twins team that expected to contend for a third straight division title.

Calling up Hendriks, Parmelee and center fielder Joe Benson from Double-A New Britain gave the Twins three players in the starting lineup making their major league debuts for the first time in franchise history, according to research by the Elias Sports Bureau.

Benson misplayed a fly ball from De Aza in the fifth inning, diving for it and letting it get past him for a triple. Morel followed with a single to give the White Sox a 3-0 lead.

That was plenty for Peavy, who stranded runners on third base in the second and fourth innings but never really ran into trouble all night long.

“There’s no doubt I look forward to a nice winter and nice comeback season next year, but at the same time I’m grinding through this one,” Peavy said. “It has been a grind. Some good, some not so good. I’m just going to see what they want to do. I’m on board with whatever.”

Joe Mauer went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts, hearing plenty of boos when Matt Thornton got him swinging in the eighth.

The Twins were shut out for the 12th time this season, tied a season high with 14 strikeouts and have managed just two runs in their last four games. They trail the Tigers by 22 games in the Central and were officially eliminated from the playoff race on Tuesday night.

“You know it was going to be a tough night with Peavy out there. … Tonight he just ate us up with the breaking ball and the fastball. He had a really good ballgame against us,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.

NOTES: The Twins said Justin Morneau will go through early batting practice on Wednesday to test his concussion symptoms. Even though he is not on the DL, he will have to get approval from Major League Baseball before being cleared to return to the field. When he does, Morneau will only DH and not play 1B. … The last team to debut at least three players in the starting lineup on the same day was the San Diego Padres, when they had four in 1986. … The last time three Twins made their big league debuts in the same game was April 7, 1999, against Toronto, when Joe Mays, Dan Perkins and Mike Lincoln all came out of the bullpen. … Guillen said he considered giving Konerko one of the games of Monday’s doubleheader off, but wanted to get him a full day’s rest. Konerko will be back in the lineup on Wednesday night. … White Sox OF Juan Pierre went 0 for 4 and remains two hits shy of 2,000 for his career. … RHP Carl Pavano (7-11, 4.60) takes the mound in the series finale on Wednesday night against White Sox LHP John Danks (6-10, 4.01). Danks is just 2-7 on the road this season, the fourth-lowest winning percentage in the majors. But he’s 6-2 with a 2.85 ERA over his last 12 starts after starting the season 0-8 with a 5.25 ERA. Pavano is 2-1 with a 1.50 ERA in three starts against the Sox this year. He’s given up an AL-high 221 hits this season and has allowed nine or more in eight of his last nine starts.

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) – Up 16-0 after six innings - the Detroit Tigers roll to an easy 18-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday night.

As heard on 97.1 The Ticket - the Tigers sweep the series from Chicago and leave the White Sox 8 1/2 games behind the Tigers in the AL Central.

Miguel Cabrera homered and drove in four runs, and the Detroit Tigers finished a three-game sweep of Chicago in emphatic fashion Sunday.

Max Scherzer (14-8) allowed five hits over seven scoreless innings, and Alex Avila had a career-high four hits for Detroit, which leads the AL Central by 6 1/2 games heading into a three-game series at second-place Cleveland.

Mark Buehrle (11-7) allowed seven earned runs in 3 1-3 innings.

The Tigers trailed 8-1 in the fifth Saturday before rallying to win 9-8. They’d scored 26 consecutive runs and led 18-0 Sunday when the White Sox finally scored two in the ninth.

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DETROIT  — The Chicago White Sox know they are running out of time.

The White Sox came up against overwhelming AL Cy Young favorite Justin Verlander on Friday night and lost 8-1 to the first-place Detroit Tigers.

The loss drops Chicago into third place in the AL Central, 61/2 games behind Detroit. Chicago has five games remaining against the Tigers this season, including the final two of this series.

“We’re almost out of games,” said White Sox starter John Danks, who struggled badly on the mound. “We have to win a lot more than we lost from here on out. We’re going to have to win out against the Tigers, and we’re still going to need some help.”

The White Sox had won five of six, but didn’t score off Verlander until the eighth inning.

“They definitely had everything rolling tonight, and they had their big gun out there,” Chicago’s Juan Pierre said. “He pretty much went through us any way he wanted.”

Verlander (21-5) improved to 19-2 since May 1, allowing one run on seven hits in 7 1-3 innings. He walked one and struck out six in Jim Leyland’s 500th win as Tigers manager.

“I didn’t change my game plan when we were leading 3-0 early, but once it got to be 8-0, I started throwing first-pitch fastballs,” he said. “I figured if they were hacking, I could get some quick outs. It hurt me a little in the eighth, but you certainly can’t complain about a game like this.”

On a 95-degree day, Danks (6-10) never came close to matching Verlander, allowing eight runs on nine hits and two walks in 4 2-3 innings.

“Danks wasn’t around the plate, and he was facing a pretty good hitting club that is swinging the bats well,” White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said.

After Verlander needed just six pitches in the top of the first, Detroit staked him to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the inning.

Jackson led off with a single, took second on Magglio Ordonez’s groundout and scored on Delmon Young’s triple. Young came home on Miguel Cabrera’s RBI single, and Cabrera then stunned the sold-out crowd of 42,352 by stealing second base.

That put him in position to score on Alex Avila’s single.

“That was all Miggy’s doing — don’t give me any credit for that one,” Leyland said. “He saw that Danks wasn’t paying attention and he got the base. That’s a huge play, because it gets us a run.”

Against Verlander, Guillen knew the game was almost over after one inning.

“When it is 3-0 in the first inning against that guy, you’ve got a pretty rough slope to climb,” he said.

The score remained 3-0 until the bottom of the fifth, with the White Sox only putting one runner in scoring position.

Brandon Inge led off Detroit’s fifth with a single, and scored on Jackson’s ninth homer of the season.

A single and two walks loaded the bases with two out, and Guillen pulled Danks in favor of Josh Kinney. The move didn’t pay off, as Peralta lined a bases-clearing double to give the Tigers their eight-run lead.

Tyler Flowers broke up Verlander’s shutout with a 425-foot homer on the first pitch of the eighth, and Chicago loaded the bases with one out before Joaquin Benoit came out of the bullpen. Paul Konerko flew out to left, and A.J. Pierzynski lined out to Cabrera at first.

NOTES: Tigers reliever Alberto Alburquerque is expected to throw an inning for Triple-A Toledo on Saturday before rejoining Detroit. Alburquerque has been sidelined with a concussion since being hit with a liner in batting practice on August 12. … Chicago’s Eduardo Escobar made his major-league debut, replacing Alexei Ramirez at shortstop in the seventh inning. Shane Lindsay, the first Australian to play for the White Sox, started his career by pitching the eighth. … Verlander has thrown at least six innings and 100 pitches in all 30 starts this season. … The teams play again Saturday afternoon, with Detroit’s Brad Penny (9-10) against Chicago’s Gavin Floyd (12-10).