One-hundred losses is unfamiliar territory for the White Sox, who hadn't had that bad a season since 1970.
Yet the way they got to 100 losses looked awfully familiar. They hit a lot of their familiar marks in this one, like:
- An unnecessary Rick Renteria bunt call in the first
- A double-digit strikeout total, including a Yoan Moncada backwards K
- Dylan Covey struggling after the first time through, courtesy of
- Some ugly outfield defense.
Despite the Leury Garcia bunt, the Sox were finally able to hold a lead through the first inning this series. Avisail Garcia smashed a single through the left side for one run, and Matt Davidson's sac fly made it 2-0.
But after facing just 10 batters over the first three innings, Covey hit a snag. He gave up a solo shot to Jake Cave for the first Minnesota run, then walked Robbie Grossman. He appeared to find an exit after striking out Mitch Garver, but when Max Kepler hit the next pitch to deep right, Daniel Palka alligator-armed it on the warning track for a "double." No runs scored on the non-error error, but two runs did score on a Logan Forsythe single to give the Twins a 3-2 lead.
Kepler then cleared the wall his next time up for a booming two-run shot in the sixth. The insurance runs were necessary, as Grossman couldn't haul in Ryan Cordell's deep drive to left for one run, and an RBI groundout by Yolmer Sanchez made it a 5-4 game.
The Sox had a golden opportunity to tie it in the ninth. Yoan Moncada withstood Joe Mauer's lengthy send-off -- he came out unaccompanied for what might be his last inning with catcher's gear he hadn't worn since 2013, caught a pitch, made one more unnecessary mound visit, then was defensively replaced to a standing ovation.
When play resumed, Moncada took a pitch off the plate for a count-evening strike, then shot a double off the left-field wall.
Trevor May relieved Matt Belisle -- who was also making his last career appearance -- and struck out Cordell and Sanchez before Leury Garcia's deep fly to right center found Max Kepler's glove for the final out.
It was a nice game for Moncada, who reached base three times around the strikeout and also made a fantastic glove flip for a highlight-reel 4-3. For everybody else besides Mauer -- who hit a trademarked double to left-center on a 3-2 count -- it was a largely forgettable final afternoon.
Record: 62-100 | Box score
