It took 5⅔ innings, but the White Sox weren't no-hit. It took 8⅔ innings, but they weren't shut out.
Give them 12 of 13 innings, and they might've been able to close the gap.
As it stood, the White Sox's best contact against Zebby Matthews wasn't productive, and soft contact is a hard way to dig out of a 4-0 hole after a dud of an opener effort. The Sox had to settle for two out of three in Target Field, and the solace that no late-inning relievers were harmed in the filming of this episode, as José Urquidy resumed his useful form by covering the final five innings.
Jordan Hicks stumbled out of the gate, however, in his second straight turbulent outing after being hard to handle for the previous two months. If you considered him part of the leverage mix, you might have some concerns about the bullpen depth.
On one hand, Hicks should've gotten out of the first inning unscathed. He walked the leadoff man, but he gloved a comebacker and made a delayed-but-on-target throw to Colson Montgomery, who fired wide to first. When Hicks struck out Kody Clemens with a full-count sweeper, that should've been the final batter of the frame.
On the other hand, Hicks still had two outs and a runner on first, so even with an extra out, he should've been able to get out of it with fewer than three runs scored. But once the Twins realized that he didn't have a grasp of his secondaries, they were able to wait him out. Ryan Jeffers walked, Josh Bell smashed a 105-mph grounder past a diving Sam Antonacci for an RBI single to bring Tyler Gilbert into the game, and Trevor Larnach foiled the left-on-lefty matchup with a double inside the right-field line to give the Twins all the runs they needed.
That part of the Minnesota lineup struck two innings later, and again after two outs. Gilbert seemed to have a handle of things after Drew Romo cut down Brooks Lee at second and Clemens grounded out, but Jeffers took one middle-middle sinker to right for a double, and Bell pulled another through the left side for an RBI single and a 4-0 Twins lead.
Matthews might've cruised regardless, but the early cushion let him throw strikes until the Sox made him more careful, and they never quite achieved that. Andrew Benintendi had one hit stolen from him by a diving Luke Keaschall in the second, and he picked the wrong center field to try in the fifth. Outside of a deep flyout from Tristan Peters and a couple of sharp groundouts, the contact wasn't particularly threatening.
Drew Romo of all people broke up the no-hit bid in the sixth inning, laying off breaking balls below the zone before muscling a full-count fastball into right center for a single. Sam Antonacci then shanked a double inside third base to put runners on second and third, but Munetaka Murakami flied out to left to quell the insta-rally.
Matthews resettled matters until the ninth, when Antonacci spanked a single up the middle to put the first leadoff man aboard for Chicago all afternoon. After a Murakami flyout, Miguel Vargas pulled a base hit through the left side, which prompted Derek Shelton to abort the mission for the complete game shutout. In came Jeff Hoffman, who got Andrew Benintendi to pop out, only to allow an RBI single to Braden Montgomery that took the shutout off the board. That brought the tying run to the on-deck circle, but he never reached the plate, as Colson Montgomery popped out to end the game.
At least the two-out solo shot that Urquidy allowed to Keaschall in the seventh inning didn't end up making a material difference, because otherwise, he was exactly what the White Sox needed. He threw just 67 pitches over five innings, and while he only recorded one strikeout and threw just first-pitch strikes to seven of 18 batters, he was able to use a changeup-forward kitchen-sink approach to lull the Twins into a lot of unremarkable outs. Whether he keeps his spot in the rotation -- or "spot" in the "rotation" -- as the calendar turns to September remains to be seen, but he put his best foot forward with what he has.
Bullet points:
*The White Sox are probably going to struggle against a right-handed starter when Murakami, Benintendi and Colson Montgomery go 0-for-12 with two strikeouts.
*Vargas hit the dirt for a slick pick to steal a single from Jeffers in the eighth.
*Doyle misread contact off the end of Lee's bat and allowed a single to drop in front of him. He also saw just five pitches while going 0-for-3 at the plate, and one of them was a strikeout.
