ChiSox rookie flirts with perfection vs. Twins

MINNEAPOLIS White Sox pitcher Zach Stewart came oh-so-close to pitching a perfect game in just his eighth career start. Instead, the 24-year-old right-hander will settle for a one-hitter and a 4-0 Chicago victory.Twins third baseman Danny Valencia broke up Stewart's chances at history in the eighth inning Monday with a double to right field. The Target Field crowd of 39,849 stood to acknowledge Stewart's effort.Stewart was aided by a handful of defensive plays behind him, including a pair by Brent Morel. The third baseman snagged a grounder by Twins shortstop Trevor Plouffe in the fourth and made another nice play on Drew Butera's grounder in the sixth to keep Stewart's perfect game alive.Chicago shortstop Alexei Ramirez's throw with two outs in the ninth was enough to beat the speedy Ben Revere, closing the books on Stewart's unlikely one-hitter.Stewart made his major league debut on June 16 with the Toronto Blue Jays. He made just three starts for Toronto before he was traded to Chicago along with Jason Frasor for Edwin Jackson and Mark Teahen. Stewart was 1-2 with a 5.86 in six games (four starts) with the White Sox before Monday's one-hitter. His other win also was against the Twins.Prior to Monday, Stewart's longest start was seven innings. That came in his big league debut, when he allowed two runs on seven hits against Baltimore. He also set new career highs Monday with 114 pitches and nine strikeouts.The last perfect game tossed by the White Sox was in 2009, when Mark Buehrle did so against the Tampa Bay Rays. Charlie Robertson is the only other White Sox pitcher to throw a perfect game, as he accomplished the feat in 1922 against Detroit.