CHICAGO -- Left fielder Alejandro De Aza clubbed two home runs, and rookie first baseman Jose Abreu went 2-for-4 with an RBI in his major league debut as the Chicago White Sox earned a 5-3 Opening Day victory over the Minnesota Twins on Monday.
Left-hander Chris Sale (1-0) claimed his second consecutive Opening Day win. He scattered five hits, struck out eight and allowed three runs in 7 1/3 innings.
Right-handed reliever Matt Lindstrom worked the ninth for his first save since April 14, 2011, when he was with the Colorado Rockies.
White Sox center fielder/leadoff batter Adam Eaton also had two hits and scored a run in front of a sellout crowd of 37,422 as Chicago fans enjoyed a 65-degree day, the warmest in four months.
Twins right-hander Ricky Nolasco, an offseason free agent acquisition, allowed five runs on 10 hits -- including two home runs -- in six innings. Nolasco (0-1) walked two, struck out four and threw a wild pitch.
ADVERTISEMENT
Minnesota catcher Kurt Suzuki went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, while center fielder Aaron Hicks went 2-for-3 with two runs.
The White Sox claimed a 2-0 lead in the second inning on De Aza's two-out home run to right, driving home Abreu from third. Abreu reached with a leadoff single to right on the first pitch from Nolasco.
The Twins tied the score in the third. Suzuki's two-out single drove home Hicks and right fielder Oswaldo Arcia.
In the third inning, White Sox third baseman Conor Gillaspie hit a one-out double, moving Eaton to third. That set up Abreu, who collected his first career RBI with a single to left.
Designated hitter Adam Dunn's sacrifice fly down the third base line brought home Gillaspie for a 4-2 Chicago lead.
De Aza lined Nolasco's first sixth-inning pitch to right-center for his second homer of the day and first career multi-homer game as the White Sox opened a 5-2 lead. De Aza, who finished 2-for-4, became the first White Sox player to hit two Opening Day home runs at home since Minnie Minoso in 1960.
Sale departed with one out in the eighth with Hicks at second. Right-handed reliever Ronald Belisario gave up a run-scoring single up the middle to Suzuki, cutting Minnesota's deficit to 5-3. Left-hander Donnie Veal entered and got the last out of the inning.
In the ninth, Lindstrom gave up a one-out double to designated hitter Chris Colabello but struck out third baseman Trevor Plouffe and got Arcia on a grounder to end the game.
ADVERTISEMENT
Sale threw 7 2/3 scoreless innings in the White Sox' 1-0 season-opening victory over the Kansas City Royals in 2013.
The teams are off Tuesday before resuming their three-game series Wednesday afternoon. The Twins send right-hander Kevin Correia against White Sox right-hander Felipe Paulino.
