White Sox 8, Twins 5: A productive jaunt

Thanks to the snowed-out series at Target Field in April, the White Sox had to make a one-day trip to Minneapolis before hosting the Twins back in Chicago.

At least it wasn’t for naught. The White Sox ended Stephen Gonsalves’ MLB debut in the second inning, and Lucas Giolito supported the effort well enough to the point where the Sox never trailed.

Gonsalves retired just one of the eight batters he faced in the second. Nicky Delmonico greeted him with a triple, and the Sox just kept coming with contact soft and hard. For isntance, Tim Anderson’s blooper down the line had a hit probability of 1 percent … and yet it drove in Matt Davidson for a 2-0 lead. Jose Abreu’s grounder inside third base was more legit, and it rattled off the side wall for a two-run double that made it a 4-0 game.

Giolito handled that responsibility well enough, although he wasn’t pristine. He gave one of the runs back in the second, and he dodged one near homer in the fourth before giving up a two-run shot to Jake Cave.

But Giolito once again stood tall with his last pitches. Adam Engel got caught too close to the wall on Max Kepler’s drive, turning a double into a triple with one out in the sixth. Giolito had a two-run cushion, but he didn’t even allow the Twins to use a productive out. Mitch Garver chased a slider in the dirt for strike three and Cave couldn’t hold up on a changeup, ending the inning.

Giolito threw a season-high 111 pitches, allowing just five hits and two walks while striking out six. He saved the bullpen, although Juan Minaya can also take some credit by striking out five of the six batters he faced during two perfect innings.

Still, the Sox added insurance runs just in case.Matt Davidson had a three-RBI game after a two-run homer to dead center in the seventh, and Daniel Palka’s screaming double to the right-field corner chased Tim Anderson home all the way from first in the eighth.

Bullet points:

*Abreu scored from second with his wheels in the fourth. Mitch Garver picked him off second, but Abreu got a good enough jump on the throw to force the infield to act quickly. Miguel Sano lost the ball trying to apply the tag at third, and Abreu scampered home to make it a 5-1 game.

*Leury Garcia can’t stay healthy. He pulled up lame trying to run down a fly ball due to a hamstring issue.

*Rick Renteria missed this one, checking into a hospital before the game due to lightheadedness.

*The start of the game was delayed 33 minutes due to weather.

Record: 47-77 | Box score

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Joist

Have the White Sox set a record for most starts that meet the minimum requirements for a quality start?

NorthSideSouthSider

It’s definitely an improvement from first half Giolito to get any sort of quality start so I’ll take it. 

PauliePaulie

While RR’s there, could a Dr. prescribe something with side effects that include “bunt muteness?” Or, is there a sabermetric steroid?

lil jimmy

“Abreu scampered home”
words seldom strung together.

Greg Nix

Anderson’s walk was his 26th this year, matching his career total coming into 2018. 

GrinnellSteve

And can we talk about Timmy’s defense? He continues to look more and more assured out there. That play in center throwing out Rosario was sweet. He’s made huge progress this year on both sides of the ball.

AirTrafficAJ

Everything is coming up Timmy!

Smclean09

His footwork looks much improved. And with how raw he was when he was drafted, no surprise that plate discipline and infield nuances were the last to develop.