The White Sox had two hits. The Twins had three homers. That usually won't win a ballgame, and it didn't tonight.
It wasn't for a lack of effort. Under better conditions, the White Sox might've had three or four homers themselves, as a few of their attempts died on the warning track. José Abreu was the only one to conquer the conditions, hitting his 16th homer, and yet another one that came after a brushback pitch.
Alas, only two batters after Abreu got to face Jake Odorizzi, because a blister issue forced him out of the game with two outs in the fourth. When the Twins bullpen came in, the White Sox had nothing.
Literally. Cody Stashak, Tyler Duffey and Trevor May retired all 16 batters they faced, including seven by strikeout. Twins pitching retired the final 18 in a row, and so the White Sox could never climb out of a 3-0 deficit.
Lucas Giolito pitched neither well nor poorly, but a quality start feels beneath him. He allowed just three hits and three walks over six innings, but two of those hits left the yard. Eddie Rosario didn't get fooled when James McCann tried to triple him up on changeups, and he stayed back enough to flip a fly ball into the Goose Island for a solo shot in the second.
Two innings later, Byron Buxton ambushed a decent first-pitch fastball that was in the upper reaches of the strike zone on the outside corner, pushing it just out of reach of a leaping Luis Robert in center field for his second homer in as many games. This one drove in two, and provided all the runs the four Twins pitchers needed.
Matt Foster gave up the third homer during an uncharacteristically rough two-thirds of an inning. He struggled with his footing on a leadoff walk, then gave up a two-run blast to Miguel Sanó. Jimmy Cordero finished his eighth inning, and took the remainder of the game.
Bullet points:
*Tim Anderson went 1-for-4, but was erased from the basepaths on an awkward steal attempt. He took off for second on a full-count pitch Yasmani Grandal, but doubled back before reaching second. Maybe he thought that Grandal would swing at anything in the strike zone.
*Alex Avila went 1-for-4, and the hit was a 37.2 mph nubber that Ross Detwiler let spin fair.
*Reynaldo López is starting the finale, with Dallas Keuchel saved for the Cincinnati series in order to line him up for the playoffs.
White Sox are starting to line themselves up for the postseason, per Renteria, so Keuchel should get a start at the Reds.
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) September 17, 2020
*The White Sox's magic number is 1.
