Paul Konerko hit two home runs and the Chicago White Sox tied a season high with five total on their way to a 12-7 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Sunday.
With their playoff hopes flickering, the defending World Series champions won for the third time in 10 games. They are seven games behind Detroit in the AL Central and 5{ behind wild-card leader Minnesota. They finish with three games at Cleveland followed by three at Minnesota.
Detroit also clinched a playoff spot Sunday by beating the Royals 11-4.
Brian Anderson homered leading off the third for the game's first run. Konerko hit a two-run homer with two out in the fifth to make it 4-1, and Joe Crede immediately went deep off Seattle starter Ryan Feierabend (0-1).
With a run in and one out in the seventh, Juan Uribe connected off Joel Pineiro for his second career grand slam to make it 10-4.
Konerko's two-run shot off Francisco Cruceta in the eighth, his 35th homer of the season, gave Chicago a 12-6 lead. Chicago hit five at Seattle on April 25.
After holding both the Los Angeles Angels and Detroit to one hit in eight shutout innings, Chicago's Freddy Garcia (16-9) allowed four runs and eight hits in 6 2-3 innings. He hit two batters with pitches, walked one and struck out three.
The scoreless streak ended with one out in the fifth, when Adrian Beltre singled in a run to cut Chicago's lead to 2-1. Garcia's day ended when he allowed a three-run homer to Kenji Johjima that pulled Seattle to 5-4 with two outs in the seventh.
Ben Broussard and Jose Lopez hit consecutive homers off Neal Cotts in the eighth and Raul Ibanez homered in the ninth for Seattle.
Feierabend lasted six innings in his first major league start, allowing five runs and eight hits while striking out four and walking three. Called up from Double-A San Antonio on September 8, he pitched a combined six innings of scoreless relief against Toronto and Kansas City and took the injured Jarrod Washburn's start in the rotation.
The White Sox were 57-31 at the all-star break but are on the brink of elimination because they have not been able to sustain any momentum the last 2{ months. They won five straight in mid-August, sweeping Detroit in the process, but have done little otherwise.
Notes: White Sox RHP Jose Contreras will miss the rest of the season after leaving his last start with a strained right hamstring, manager Ozzie Guillen said. Contreras (13-9) left Friday's game against Seattle after 1 2-3 innings, when he collapsed at first base and limped off the field. He was scheduled to make one more start. ... With a crowd of 37,518, the White Sox set their single-season attendance record with 2,957,414. The previous mark was 2,934,154 in 1991, their first year at U.S. Cellular Field. ... Jermaine Dye started in right field for Chicago after leaving Saturday's 11-7 win with a tweaked left hamstring. ... Beltre, who left Saturday's game with a tight hamstring, has a 14-game hitting streak.
