2 weeks Ago
MINNEAPOLIS – Jhoan Durán, with a 102 mph fastball and a 99 mph splitter, has been one of MLB’s best closers in recent seasons. Target Field’s fiery light show introduction adds to the intimidation factor, but finishing off Tuesday’s game against the White Sox was no easy task. Durán loaded the bases with two walks and a softly hit infield single by Lenyn Sosa.
After a three-pitch strikeout by Joshua Palacios, the White Sox scratched across a run as Nick Maton grounded to first base for the inning’s first out. Andrew Benintendi stepped to the plate with runners on second and third, a chance to tie the game. He made sharp contact and drove a belt-high fastball to the right-center field gap, where Gold Glove center fielder Byron Buxton was on the prowl.
Sprinting diagonally to the warning track, Buxton went fully airborne to rob what would have been a game-tying hit and secure the Twins’ 4-2 win. "When I hit it, with the jump he got, I knew he was gonna catch it, just the way he was tracking it,” Benintendi said. “And yeah, I thought he had it the whole way.
" “You know that Buxton’s an incredible outfielder,” White Sox manager Will Venable said postgame. “I thought right away he had a beat on it and it was obviously a great play and close. But credit to Andrew for a great at-bat and credit to Buxton for making a great play.
” With a series-opening loss, the White Sox fell to 5-18 on the season, 1-10 on the road and 1-9 versus American League Central opponents. Wednesday’s game is scheduled for 6:40 p.m.
CT at Target Field in Minneapolis. White Sox right-hander Bryse Wilson will make his first start of the season, in place of the injured Martín Pérez, against Twins right-hander David Festa, who has not allowed an earned run in nine innings this season. While the White Sox were still in position to steal a win Tuesday, they also left several runs on the field by going 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
They took a 1-0 lead in the second inning, when Twins starter Bailey Ober threw a near-perfect changeup on the low and outside corner on a two-strike count. Quero stayed through the ball and lined it the other way for a single, and Jake Amaya drove him in with a sacrifice fly to right field. The White Sox gave the run right back in the bottom of the second, though, as errors proved costly in Tuesday’s game.
After White Sox starter Davis Martin walked Trevor Larnach to begin the inning, Carlos Correa hit a ground ball to Andrew Vaughn at first base. Vaughn attempted to turn a double play, but Sosa couldn’t handle the throw as he came across the bag. The official scorer originally ruled it a throwing error on Vaughn, but it was later changed to an error on Sosa for missing the catch, with an assist to Vaughn.
Ty France made the White Sox pay for the error by driving a low sinker into right field for a game-tying RBI single. The White Sox suffered from a defensive miscue in the third inning as well. After a soft ground ball by Larnach down the first base line, Quero fielded the ball cleanly, but his throw deflected off of Larnach’s back before it reached Vaughn at first.
Quero was credited for a throwing error, which allowed Luke Keaschall to come around and score from second after the ricochet. Both runs were unearned to Martin’s line. Venable disagreed with the umpire’s ruling that Larnach wasn’t in the grass as he ran to first base.
“He was in the grass,” Venable said. “I don't need to see a replay to know that. It was a bad call.
” "It was just a tweener ball," Martin said. "Q and I looked at each other and I think both of us had a good opportunity at it. With him coming through the ball and Larnach trying to cut him off at first, felt like he had the best opportunity at it.
It is what it is. It’s a baseball play, just gotta move on and get to the next one." There were a few prime opportunities for the White Sox to negate the impact of those errors.
In the fourth, Quero replicated his first at-bat by driving a changeup on the outside corner to the opposite field for a single. Third baseman Bobby Dalbec put runners on second and third with a two-out double in his first start since joining the team from Triple-A. But after driving in the game’s first run earlier, Amaya popped out to stop the rally.
The White Sox generated another good scoring chance with singles by Maton and Benintendi to begin the fifth. But Luis Robert Jr. looked at an Ober fastball on the outside edge for a strikeout, and Vaughn rolled into an inning-ending double play.
“A lot of good at-bats where we're able to create some traffic. We’ve just got to find a way to cash in. It's as simple as that,” Venable said.
“Good, quality at-bats and we just need to keep it going.” Quero tried to build another rally in the sixth, this time turning on a hanging changeup for a single to right field with an exit velocity of 105 miles per hour. But the threat was quickly put to rest as Sosa grounded into a double play and Baldwin struck out looking on a fastball on the low and outside corner.
Venable continues to be intrigued by the early stages of Quero’s career. “Every at-bat has been impressive from him,” Venable said. “Where he’s in control of the at-bat.
He's not trying to do too much. You just see the nice, short compact swing throughout the at-bat. He’s a guy who has the intention to be aggressive, but also doesn't mind getting deep into counts.
” Though Martin exited as the White Sox trailed 2-1, it was a solid day for the right-hander. He finished with five innings, three hits, three walks and three strikeouts, and both runs scored were unearned. Martin was upset with his three walks, but he and Venable took away some positives from Tuesday’s start.
"I really liked the fastball," Martin said. "I think we’ve seen that people were trying to hunt the soft stuff down, so being able to keep people honest up top and the velo coming back a little bit was a nice thing to see. All in all, I really liked the fastballs and the sinker as well.
" “Just in control the whole time,” Venable said. “Was able to mix it up. I thought the changeup was really good.
Threw some good sliders and kind of kept them off-balance. You look at a really, bad defense and a bad call by the umpire, can attribute that to the two runs there. But otherwise, he was in control the whole time.
" Rookie right-hander Mike Vasil relieved Martin and extended his streak of innings without an earned run to begin his MLB career to 14.1. He retired six of seven batters faced with three strikeouts in the sixth and seventh innings, and the lone base runner reached on a walk.
But that streak came to an end in the eighth as Larnach hit a towering, 434-foot two-run home run off of a Vasil fastball. That turned out to be much-needed insurance for the Twins after the White Sox scored a run in the ninth. Though they were disappointed to not begin the division series with a victory, Benintendi and Venable drew positives from the team’s near comeback in the ninth against a vaunted closer.
“It's not over 'til it's over,” Benintendi said. “You're facing that guy in the ninth down three, it's easy to kind of fold and say we'll get them tomorrow, but put ourselves in a position to tie it up and just didn't get it done." “More than anything, I'm just glad we kept fighting,” Venable said.
“We got one of the best pitchers on the planet out there and we saw the same thing from the guys in Cleveland with Clase. We were able to get the tying run on base and just weren't able to get the final run across there to keep the game going. But just really happy with the fight.
” Related stories on the Chicago White Sox KOREY LEE INJURY: Korey Lee is on the 10-day injured list with a left ankle sprain, but White Sox manager Will Venable said Tuesday the swelling "is pretty much all out of there." CLICK HERE MEIDROTH UPDATE: Chase Meidroth, the No. 8 prospect in the White Sox organization, is on the 10-day injured list with right thumb inflammation.
CLICK HERE PEREZ UPDATE: White Sox manager Will Venable commented Tuesday on the status of starting pitcher Martín Pérez, who's on the 60-day injured list with a flexor strain. CLICK HERE ROTATION QUESTIONS: With Martín Pérez out with an injury, the White Sox are in search of a new starting pitcher for Wednesday's game against the Minnesota Twins. CLICK HERE.
