CHICAGO -- As openers go, this one was promising for the Chicago White Sox. Now, all they have to do is build on it. Alejandro De Aza hit two homers, and Jose Abreu had two hits in his major league debut to back Chris Sale and lead the White Sox to a 5-3 season-opening victory over the Minnesota Twins on Monday. "Its a big deal because of what last year was," manager Robin Ventura said. Last year was a 99-loss nightmare, a collapse after they finished second in the AL Central in 2012. This year, they insist, will be better. They are off to a good start, even if they beat a team that is trying to stop a losing cycle. Sale got the win, pitching five-hit ball into the eighth. Paul Konerko got a loud ovation before what was likely his final opener, although he didnt play. The White Sox got clutch hits, hustled on the bases, and played error-free ball to start the season on a winning note. Abreu doubled on the first pitch he saw leading off the second inning against Ricky Nolasco and scored on De Azas two-run homer to give Chicago a 2-0 lead. He also drove in the go-ahead run with a single during a two-run third after Minnesotas Kurt Suzuki tied it with a two-run single in the top half. It was a good start for Abreu, who insisted he didnt feel any real first-game jitters. That line drive double to right, on a ball that Oswaldo Arcia appeared to misjudge, didnt hurt. "You wanted to get that first one out of the way," Abreu, who signed a six-year, $68 million deal in the off-season, said through an interpreter. "Once you get it, its a very happy moment. The first thing I thought of was my mother." Abreus family is expected to join him at some point this season. He wouldnt say where his mom is, other than "somewhere close, but we cant really comment on that." De Aza made it 5-2 with a solo shot just over the right-field wall in the sixth inning for his first career multihomer game. It was also the first for Chicago on opening day since Jim Thome at Cleveland in 2008, and the first by a White Sox player in a season opener at home since 1960, when Minnie Minoso hit two against the Kansas City Athletics. That was enough for Sale, who allowed three runs and struck out eight and walked one. The two-time All-Star came out with a 5-2 lead with one out and a runner on second in the eighth. Ronald Belisario allowed a two-out RBI single to Suzuki before Donnie Veal retired Joe Mauer on a grounder. Matt Lindstrom came on in the ninth after being announced as the closer by Ventura before the game. The right-hander gave up a one-out double to Chris Colabello before striking out Trevor Plouffe and retiring Arcia on a grounder to the mound for his first save since April 2011 when he was with Colorado. Nolasco took the loss in a shaky debut with Minnesota. One of the top free agent pitchers last winter, he gave up five runs and 10 hits in six innings. "I thought we played good, we battled all game," Nolasco said. "Put up some runs, gave a good fight to Chris Sale and made it interesting late. Come back tomorrow or the next day and try and build off that." The Twins are trying to pick themselves up after back-to-back 96-loss seasons and dropping a staggering 291 games the past three years. There was a glitch before the game with the Twins replay system as two blown fuses disabled a pair of monitors in the Minnesota clubhouse. That was fixed in time for the first pitch, but things didnt get much better for the Twins. That is because the White Sox got the big hits from Abreu and De Aza to back Sale. Notes: Konerko had started the previous 15 openers for the White Sox and 16 straight overall. He is in a reduced role after re-signing for one year. ... Minnesota LHP Brian Duensing was placed on the paternity list before Mondays game. RHP Michael Tonkin was recalled from Triple-A Rochester to replace Duensing, whose wife Lisa gave birth to a boy named Boston Matthew Duensing. . Twins general manager Terry Ryan didnt travel with the team to Chicago. Ryan was undergoing radiation to treat cancer. 20:29ET 31-03-14 Air Max 270 Clearance .ca. Kerry, I hope you address Ron MacLeans comment during the second intermission of Game 4 in Montreal-Tampa series. Basically, he suggested that the NHL should not have used a referee from Quebec, following the Game 3 disputed non-goal, because the referee could be biased towards Montreal. Nike Air Max 270 Cheap Uk . Coming off a 6-0 drubbing at Chelsea on Saturday, Arsenal endured another demoralizing result after rallying for a 2-1 lead -- only to concede a fluke equalizer. http://www.airmax270ukclearance.com/ . Whenever United loses, its crisis. When other top teams slip up, its the quirky nature of the Premier League. The predictable reaction speaks to the sky-high expectations for a team proven perennial contender and 13 times Premier League champion. Air Max 270 Sale Uk . Early in the first period, Stuart pinched in from the blue line, hit Nash and was assessed a minor penalty for elbowing. Nash remained in the game for the rest of the first period, but did not return for the second. Air Max 270 Uk Release . The (14-15-5) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 33 points. They trail sixth place Nashville and fifth place Dallas by two points. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Rookie Boone Jenner and veteran Brandon Dubinsky scored 40 seconds apart in the third period and Sergei Bobrovsky had 39 saves to lead the Columbus Blue Jackets past the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 on Tuesday night. Nick Foligno and Derek MacKenzie also had goals and Nathan Horton had two assists for the Blue Jackets, who have won five of six. Columbus was playing one night after its game at Dallas was postponed in the first period when the Stars Rich Peverley collapsed on the bench. The Blue Jackets and Red Wings came in to this game tied with 71 points in the East and battling for playoff position. Danny DeKeyser scored for the Red Wings, who went to third-string goalie Petr Mrazek when Jimmy Howard couldnt play because of the flu. Mrazek stopped 33 shots. Detroit has dropped four of five (1-3-1). With the score tied at 1 midway through the third period, the Blue Jackets broke loose. Jenner, playing in his 55th game, came to the back wall and squeezed out Detroit centre Cory Emmerton, taking away the puck. Jenner then continued to the right dot before snapping off a wrist shot that beat Mrazek high on the stick side at the 10:08 mark. Shortly after that, Matt Calvert won a puck battle in the neutral zone and then fended off a defenceman while muscling the puck ahead to Dubinsky. He collected the pass, skated to the crease and also scored inside the far post for his 13th at the 10:48 mark. The Red Wings had two early power plays and took the games first five shots but Bobrovsky turned them all away. They got on the board at the 10:24 mark when DeKeysers blast from the point ramped off the stick of Calvert and past a surprised Bobrovsky. Columbus tied it at the 115:11 mark.dddddddddddd Nick Schultz, playing his first home game for Columbus after being acquired from Edmonton in a draft-day trade, got a shot through traffic from close to the blue line. Mrazek stopped it but the rebound popped into the slot. Foligno spun with defenceman Jonathan Ericsson on his back and got two whacks at the loose puck while belly-first on the ice before finding the net for his 17th. Detroit dominated the opening period, with an 18-8 upper hand in shots and three power plays. Bobrovsky made huge saves on point-blank shots by Riley Sheahan and Drew Miller within seconds in the middle of the opening period. Mrazek, who had played with Grand Rapids of the AHL most of the year before being called up March 8, had not won for the big club since Nov. 2, a 5-0 victory over Edmonton. The Red Wings are used to being without players, since they are already without the equivalent of a playoff team: Star forwards Henrik Zetterberg (back) and Pavel Datsyuk (knee), along with right wing Daniel Cleary (knee), centre Stephen Weiss (groin), right wing Mikael Samuelsson (shoulder), centre Darren Helm (head), centre Joakim Andersson (foot) and backup goalie Jonas Gustavsson (groin). NOTES: Howard was 10-3-2 with a 1.99 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage against the Blue Jackets. ... RW Cam Atkinson, third for Columbus with 18 goals, was a healthy scratch for the third game in a row. ... A TV weatherman was roundly booed during the first intermission when he appeared on arena monitors to forecast snow on Wednesday after a 65-degree day on Tuesday. ... Detroit RW Tomas Jurco suffered an upper-body injury in the second period and did not return. ' ' '