White Sox Club the Cardinals, 20-6

Joe Crede homered twice and was the catalyst for an 11-run, 12-hit third inning Tuesday night to lead the Chicago White Sox to their biggest offensive output in 10 years and a 20-6 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago.

“It was something I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of,” Crede said after getting four of the White Sox’s 24 hits. “Everybody was able to have quality at-bats and it showed.... Once a few guys start getting hits here and there, everybody followed suit.”

Crede started the third with a double and he and A.J. Pierzynski homered in the big outburst, an inning that featured seven consecutive hits off Mark Mulder.

“When you throw that bull I was throwing up there, it’s not going to get it done,” Mulder said.

“Just a whole bunch of pitches over the middle of the plate. They were swinging at all of them and hitting all of them.”

Starting with Crede’s leadoff double, the White Sox sent 16 batters to the plate en route to a victory that put them 20 games over .500.

Chicago scored six more runs in the sixth, Crede hit his second homer in the seventh and the White Sox finished with season highs in runs and hits.

It was the first time since May 15, 1996, against Milwaukee that the White Sox had scored 20 runs in a game. Chicago’s 24 hits was its most since it had 24 against Seattle on August 9, 2000.

White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen and reliever David Riske were ejected in the seventh after Chris Duncan was hit with a pitch.

The benches had been warned in the bottom of the sixth after St. Louis reliever Sidney Ponson hit two White Sox batters with the bases loaded.

“I’m not going to put my teammates in jeopardy to get hurt. It looked like it was, but it wasn’t. It was never my intention,” Ponson said.

Minnesota 6, Houston 5 -- Justin Morneau led off the 10th inning with a home run at Houston to lead the Twins to their eighth consecutive victory.

Colorado 6, Oakland 0 -- Jason Jennings (6-6) and two relievers combined on a one-hitter for the Rockies at Denver. Oakland starter Esteban Loaiza (2-4) walked four and gave up nine hits and six runs in 3 2/3 innings.

Toronto 6, Atlanta 5 -- Reed Johnson homered and had three hits at Atlanta to help the Blue Jays extend the Braves’ longest losing streak in 17 years. The Braves have dropped eight games in a row for the first time since April 24-May 2, 1989. Atlanta has lost 18 of 21 to drop to the bottom of the National League East.

San Diego 6, Texas 5 -- Mike Cameron hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the sixth inning at Arlington, Texas, and the Padres held off the Rangers.

Kansas City 10, Pittsburgh 6 -- David DeJesus and John Buck drove in two runs apiece for the Royals at Kansas City, Mo., in a clash between the two worst teams in the majors.

New York Yankees 9, Philadelphia 7 -- Johnny Damon’s two-run triple in the eighth inning helped the Yankees overcome Ryan Howard’s two homers and seven runs batted in at Philadelphia.

Detroit 10, Milwaukee 1 -- Rookie Zach Miner (3-1) pitched his first complete game and Magglio Ordonez hit two of the Tigers’ four home runs at Milwaukee.

Florida 6, Baltimore 2 -- The visiting Marlins tied a franchise record with their ninth consecutive win behind the pitching of Dontrelle Willis (4-6) at.

Boston 11, Washington 3 -- Tim Wakefield (5-8) pitched six strong innings to lead the host Red Sox to their fifth consecutive victory. The Red Sox, who have won 11 of their last 12 interleague games, had a season-high 17 hits.

Tampa Bay 8, Arizona 5 -- Mark Hendrickson (4-7) threw seven solid innings and Jonny Gomes hit a two-run double to lift the Devil Rays at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Cleveland 4, Chicago Cubs 2 -- Cliff Lee (6-5) outpitched Greg Maddux to help the host Indians snap a four-game losing streak and send the Cubs to their seventh loss in eight games.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

New York Mets 9, Cincinnati 2 -- Steve Trachsel (5-4) pitched six effective innings and hit the third home run of his career to help the Mets defeat the Reds at New York.