Lohse, Hunter star for Twins

CHICAGO (AP) -- No matter how many dazzling defensive plays Torii Hunter makes, the Minnesota Twins never get tired of them.

Kyle Lohse pitched the first complete game and shutout of his career, but it was Hunter's run-stealing grab at the center-field wall that had his teammates talking after the Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 5-0 on Tuesday night.

With good reason.

"That gets by him and they score a couple of runs," Lohse said. "Not too many guys can track a ball down like he can."

There's more to Hunter than his defense, though. He drove in two runs Tuesday as the Twins extended their AL Central lead to 16 1/2 games over Chicago. Jacque Jones led off a game with a homer for the second straight day.

The loss was the sixth straight for the White Sox, who dropped a season-high 10 games under .500.

Hunter, a first-time All-Star this year, has an entire highlight reel of defensive gems just from this season. This one might deserve special consideration, though, because it snuffed out whatever hope the White Sox had of rallying.

Trailing 4-0, the White Sox had runners at the corners with two outs in the fifth after first baseman David Ortiz's error. Carlos Lee followed with a sharp fly to center that could have scored at least one run.

But Hunter's eyes never left the ball as it soared toward center. He made a leaping grab at the wall before tumbling to the warning track, the ball tucked securely in his glove.

"Awesome," Jones said of the catch. "It was a game-saver."

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire agreed.

"It was a big moment, a big play in the ballgame," Gardenhire said. "We've seen him make a lot of them, but we never get tired of seeing them."

Lohse (11-7) handled the White Sox from there, not allowing a hit the rest of the game. He scattered four hits and struck out eight while walking only two to get his first complete game in his 42nd career start.

He felt so good going into the ninth that he didn't even give Gardenhire the chance to take him out.

"He came in after the eighth inning going, 'I got it, it's mine,"' Gardenhire said. "So I just sat back down. He's taller than I am."

Jim Parque (1-3) had his second rough outing as he tries to prove he belongs in the White Sox rotation again. Parque gave up five runs -- four earned -- and five hits in 5 1-3 innings.

His night got off to a bad start when Jones went deep on the third pitch. It's his eighth leadoff home run of the year.

MINNESOTA CHICAGO

ab r h bi ab r h bi

JJones lf 3 2 2 1 Rwand cf 4 0 0 0

CGzmn ss 4 1 1 1 Vlentin ss 4 0 1 0

THnter cf 3 1 1 2 Lee lf 4 0 1 0

DOrtiz 1b 4 0 2 0 Ordnez rf 4 0 1 0

LeCroy dh 4 0 0 0 Knerko 1b 4 0 0 0

Mohr rf 4 0 1 1 Thmas dh 4 0 0 0

Hcking 3b 4 0 0 0 Crede 3b 3 0 0 0

Prince c 3 0 0 0 MLJhn c 1 0 1 0

Rivas 2b 3 1 0 0 WHarrs 2b 2 0 0 0

Totals 32 5 7 5 Totals 30 0 4 0

Minnesota 103 001 000 -- 5

Chicago 000 000 000 -- 0

E--DOrtiz (1), Valentin (15), WHarris (2). DP--Minnesota 1, Chicago 3. LOB--Minnesota 2, Chicago 6. 2B--DOrtiz (25). HR--JJones (22). SB--JJones (6), CGuzman (10), THunter (21). CS--THunter (6), Mohr (3). S--WHarris.

IP H R ER BB SO

Minnesota

Lohse W,11-7 9 4 0 0 2 8

Chicago

Parque L,1-3 5 1-3 5 5 4 2 4

MGinter 1 2-3 1 0 0 0 0

Osuna 1 0 0 0 0 1

Foulke 1 1 0 0 0 1

T--2:22. A--16,912 (44,321).