When rain impacted their weekend series, it allowed the Minnesota Twins to give their Ace, Jose Berrios, an extra day of rest. An extra day off is always a benefit for starting pitchers in mid-September, but delaying the start meant Berrios got to face the White Sox again. A team that Berrios been tormenting since joining the majors.
| Year | W | L | ERA | G | GS | CG | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO |
| 2016 | 1 | 0 | 1.80 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 2017 | 2 | 1 | 2.21 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 20.1 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 28 |
| 2018 | 4 | 0 | 2.12 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 34 | 22 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 36 |
| 2019 | 3 | 1 | 3.00 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 27 | 31 | 16 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 25 |
| Career | 10 | 2 | 2.40 | 13 | 13 | 1 | 86.1 | 69 | 32 | 23 | 7 | 19 | 92 |
Opposite of Berrios on the mound was Reynaldo Lopez, who did not enjoy facing the Minnesota Twins. In two previous starts, Lopez allowed 15 runs (11 earned) in 9.2 innings. If the White Sox were going to pull off the upset, they needed a combination of a surprising offensive outburst while Lopez finally figured out the Twins lineup.
White Sox got off to a hot start with the bats, but the Twins continued to make contact again Lopez and his defense didn’t help much as the Sox fell, 5-3.
In the first inning, Leury Garcia started the game with a single to right field, and Yoan Moncada followed that up with his 30th double of the season. In a prime position to post multiple runs, Jose Abreu hit a sacrifice fly to center field playing Garcia. However, when Twins center fielder LaMonte Wade hit the cutoff man, Moncada got thrown out at third base trying to tag up. That unnecessary baserunning decision ended the rally early.
Up 1-0, James McCann hit his fourth career home run off Berrios starting the second inning. That blast seemed to wake up Berrios as he only allowed two more hits in the game.
It was a tied game after the second inning when the Twins hitters peppered Lopez with four singles and a sacrifice fly. After giving up the lead, Lopez did well to keep the game tied heading into the fifth inning when he ran into trouble again. Jorge Polanco hit a double to lead off the inning. Then the White Sox outfield defense made a couple of mistakes.
Nelson Cruz flew out to Eloy Jimenez in left field, but the throw was off target to allow Polanco to advance to third base. That ended up being an error on Jimenez which is his third of the season. Ryan Goins made the second outfield misplay. Lopez struck out Eddie Rosario for the second out, but when Mitch Garver’s fly to right field reached the warning track, Goins lack of experience playing in the outfield became costly. Instead of continuing to track the ball, Goins stopped short and watched the fly ball sail over his head and off the wall. Polanco scored, and Garver picked up an RBI double giving the Twins a 3-2 lead.
Lopez got back into trouble in the sixth inning as Wade hit his first double of the season to left field giving the Twins runners on second and third base with one out. That’s when the White Sox went to the bullpen as Jace Fry replaced Lopez. With the infield playing in, Fry did get the grounder he was hoping for from Luis Arraez. As it was going down the third baseline, Moncada misread the grounder and overran the play. The miscue ended up being a two-run single for Arraez extending the Twins lead to 5-2.
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Taylor Rogers replaced Romo and picked up his 27th save when Welington Castillo grounded out, and Danny Mendick struck out.
Game Notes:
- Yoan Moncada went 2-for-4 despite the two TOOTBLANs (he was picked off in the sixth inning), and his season batting average is now .310
- The Twins are now 12-5 against the White Sox in 2019.
Record: 65-85 | Box Score | Highlights
