CHICAGO — José Abreu nearly homered in the third inning.
He left no doubt his next time up.
Abreu hit a tiebreaking two-run home run off reliever Jorge Alcalá in the sixth inning, helping the Chicago White Sox to a 9-3 victory Tuesday against the Minnesota Twins.
The score was tied at 3 entering the sixth, but the Sox scored twice on Abreu’s homer and two more in both the seventh and eighth to take the opener of the three-game series at Guaranteed Rate Field. The Sox have won four straight.
Sox starter Dylan Cease allowed three runs on five hits with seven strikeouts and two walks in five innings. He also hit two batters. All three runs came in the second.
Jorge Polanco hit a solo home run to right on a 1-2 pitch. The Twins loaded the bases on a walk and two singles, then Cease hit Ben Rortvedt with an 0-2 pitch.
Luis Arráez hit a sacrifice fly to right to make it 3-0, but Andrelton Simmons was thrown out trying to advance to third to end the inning.
The Sox responded quickly in the bottom of the second.
Abreu led off the inning with a single against Twins starter Kenta Maeda. Yermín Mercedes walked and Yasmani Grandal followed with a three-run home run to right-center to tie the game.
The Sox almost took the lead later in the second on Tim Anderson’s single to left, but Arráez threw out Andrew Vaughn at the plate to end the inning.
Abreu hit a long fly to center in the third that a jumping Max Kepler caught at the wall.
The sixth was a different story. Yoán Moncada reached on a one-out walk, and Abreu hit the next pitch out to left-center for his team-leading seventh homer, giving the Sox a 5-3 lead.
Anderson drove in a run with a single in the seventh and scored on a bloop double by Adam Eaton to make it 7-3. Leury García and Nick Madrigal had RBI singles in the eighth.
It was the Sox’s third consecutive game scoring nine runs.
Garrett Crochet entered with runners on first and third and one out in the sixth and got out of the inning without allowing a run to earn his first career win.
The Sox (20-13) maintained a one-game lead in the American League Central over the Cleveland Indians (19-14). The Twins (12-21), expected to be contenders, are eight back.
