when youre hitting balls and getting ready for

MINNEAPOLIS -- White Sox manager Robin Ventura approached Jose Abreu at his locker following Sundays tight victory over the Twins, and the two shared a joke.It was a moment of levity at the end of a stressful day.Abreu hit two three-run homers and drove in a career-best seven runs, and Chicago used Tim Andersons two-run double in the 12th inning to beat Minnesota 13-11 for a split of their four-game series.I will say that this is my best moment of this season, Abreu said.Abreu, Anderson and Melky Cabrera had three hits apiece, helping the White Sox overcome four homers for Minnesota. The teams combined for 18 homers in the series.Abreu fell one shy of the franchise record of eight RBI in a game, a mark shared by three people, including Ventura.We were joking about the RBI, our record that he owns, Abreu said through a translator. I was one short, but we were all joking about it.While Abreu delivered another impressive performance, Anderson had the biggest hit of the day. With one out and runners on second and third in the 12th, the rookie doubled to deep left against Pat Dean (1-6).Juan Minaya (1-0) earned his first major league win. He pitched a scoreless 11th but walked the first two batters in the 12th. Tommy Kahnle then came in and earned his third career save, retiring Eddie Rosario with the bases loaded for the final out.Im not going to tell you what was going through my mind, Ventura said of Minnesotas threat in the 12th. But theyre not easy.Byron Buxton hit his first career grand slam for Minnesota, and Brian Dozier, Miguel Sano and John Ryan Murphy also went deep. The Twins hit 11 homers in the four-game set.To have an offensive day like that, and to really have the guys you want in the game at the end with a chance, Minnesota manager Paul Molitor said of the frustrating pitching performance. I dont know how many of those weve had that would rank up there with that one.Abreu opened the scoring with a three-run shot in the first. He added an RBI single in the fifth and another three-run drive in the seventh, trimming Minnesotas lead to 9-7.Abreu is batting .370 with 11 homers and 30 RBI in his past 31 games.Hes swinging it, this is what you really expect out of him, Ventura said. I know that its pretty free and easy right now. But even the home runs, thats really more indicative of him. Right now hes feeling pretty good about it, sitting in the middle of our lineup driving in some runs.Buxton had three hits, and Dozier connected for his 35th homer. Sano hit his 22nd and Murphy added his first for the Twins after being recalled a day earlier.TRAILING ONLY KILLEBREWDozier leads the majors with 21 homers since the All-Star break. He has the most home runs of any Twins player since Josh Willingham also hit 35 in 2012.Only Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew has hit more homers in a single season in Twins history.Dont be putting me in Killebrews, in a sentence with him, Dozier said. Thats pretty cool. Weve still got a little ways to go, but thats pretty cool.UP NEXTWhite Sox: Chris Sale (15-7, 3.10 ERA) starts Monday against the Detroit Tigers, who counter with Justin Verlander (14-7, 3.30 ERA). Sale is 1-2 with a 3.38 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 29 1/3 innings in four starts against Detroit this season. Verlander has allowed more than two runs just once in his past 12 starts.Twins: Molitor said rookie right-hander Jose Berrios (2-4, 9.24 ERA) will be called up to start Monday against Kansas City. The Royals counter with RHP Ian Kennedy (9-9, 3.66 ERA). Custom Rod Langway Jersey . -- The Sacramento Kings are set to become the first major professional sports franchise to accept Bitcoin virtual currency for ticket and merchandise purchases. Custom Capitals Jerseys . Bradwell was scheduled to become a free agent Tuesday. Born and raised in Toronto, Bradwell is entering his sixth CFL season, with all six played for his hometown Argonauts. http://www.customcapitalsjersey.com/ . They had already blown a double-digit lead, fans were hitting the exits, and a long seven-game road trip waited at the end. Capitals Jerseys China . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. Custom Capitals Jersey China . JOHNS, N. Novak Djokovic has historically basked in the glow of the spotlight at the Londons O2 Arena, but for Andy Murray, the glare during the ATP World Tour Finals has usually been harsh, exposing his weaknesses and shortcomings.It might be a different story for the new world No. 1 this year.On Monday, Murray launched his campaign to consolidate the No. 1 ranking he lifted from Djokovics hands a little more than a week ago in Paris. He crushed Marin Cilic in the first match of the round-robin stage, 6-3, 6-2, in an hour and a half. Afterward, Murray admitted in his on-court interview, Its one of the best matches I have played here.It also was one of the most timely demonstrations of the hardworking 29-year-old Scots rewarding, but often frustrating, career.Like Rafael Nadal, a fellow member of the Big Four, Murray has never won the eight-man ATP grand finale. Unlike Nadal, Murray hasnt even made a final at the year-enders despite his expertise on hard courts. Its surprising when you consider the adulation from a besotted British crowd beaming down at him and the hybrid round-robin format that allows a player various backdoor ways to advance.Murray has qualified for nine finals (eight at the palatial O2 Arena), but his win against Cilic barely nudged him over the .500 mark in his year-end career (12-11). Murrays 6-0, 6-1 loss to 33-year-old Roger Federer in 2014 was a career low point -- and a painful embarrassment.Meanwhile, Djokovic is working on his fifth consecutive and sixth overall WTF title.The O2 arena is basically deep enemy territory for Murray. Djokovic has every right to pound his chest (as we know, hes not above it) and bellow, This is MY house! Chez Djokovic isnt exactly the place Murray would choose to turn his fortunes around, but recent events have conspired to turn this tournament into just that -- a showdown for the No. 1 ranking, as well as the even more precious year-end No. 1 ranking.Murray is the 26th man to reach No. 1 on the ATP computer. But only 16 have finished a calendar year as top man. Murray needs to go one round further than Djokovic (or to beat him in the final) to secure the honors.Until he actually became No. 1, Murray hadd been protesting that hitting the summit was not really his goal this fall.dddddddddddd He declared he might have a better shot at in next spring. Far from the O2 Arena. Far from Chez Djokovic.Forget the prattle about how tough everyone is in the draw; this one was a gift handed to the beleaguered Djokovic. He is 24-0 against the three other players in his group --?Milos Raonic, Dominic Thiem (whom Djokovic beat Sunday) and Gael Monfils.Meanwhile, Murray was a solid but vulnerable 27-12 against the men in his field --?Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori and Cilic. To top it off, Cilic hit his career-high ranking of No. 7 just a week ago, and he hammered Murray in the Cincinnati final the last time they met.I dont feel any different this week than I did the week before when I get up in the morning and stuff, Murray said in the pretournament news conference in London.It was an uh-oh moment, saved only when he almost grudgingly elaborated on the effect of becoming the top player: Maybe when you step on court, you have a little more confidence, feel a little better about yourself when youre hitting balls and getting ready for the tournament.That confidence showed in his match with Cilic. Although Murray got off to a rocky start, smacking errant forehands and jabbering at his players guest box, he soon settled down, breaking Cilic to take a 3-1 lead. Murray won 59 percent of his second-serve points, and his aggressive return game paid off with four breaks in five break-point chances. Cilic also had five break points but converted just one.Murray attributed his sharp response to critical moments to the confidence he has accumulated in the course of a winning streak that now stands at 20 matches. Hell probably need to puff himself up even more assertively in the coming days because of the stakes in play.Winning this event is a very tall order for Murray, but he has been handling such demands with great resolve all fall. He has landed more squarely in the spotlight than ever before -- and the glare didnt seem nearly as bleak on Monday. ' ' '