Gavin Sheets, in his first two at-bats against Jose Berrios, seemed lost. He had difficulty timing up the sinker and whiffed against the sliders resulting in two strikeouts. For the third act, Sheets stepped up to the plate with an opportunity to be the night's hero. Brian Goodwin sliced a single through the shift, and a pitch hit Andrew Vaughn. When Berrios spiked a slider that catcher Mitch Garver couldn't corral, Sheets looked at Goodwin and Vaughn standing in scoring position. A medium-depth fly ball would at least tie the game.
On a 3-1 fastball, Berrios tried to jam Sheets but missed his target. That mistake traveled 390 feet, landing in the right-field bleachers. The rookie tagged Minnesota's Ace for a three-run homer as Chicago won, 5-3.
Before the seventh inning, this night's story was about Garver and Berrios working well to limit the White Sox offense. At the same time, the Twins catcher supported Berrios with two solo home runs. The game seemed to be on autopilot as the Twins were leading 3-1 going into the sixth inning. The one run was Jose Abreu's 17th homer of the season, moving him into fourth place all-time on the White Sox home run leaderboard.
In the sixth inning, it was Yoan Moncada's turn. Having a history of success against Berrios before tonight (2 HR, .294/385/.559), Moncada didn't miss on a sinker that found too much of the plate. Pulling the pitch into right field for a 405-foot solo home run to cut the deficit to just a single run.
The three home runs ruined Berrios's final line as he finished with 6 IP 4 H 5 ER 3 HR 1 BB 8 K. With plenty of scouts in attendance and skepticism out of Minneapolis about a long-term extension, perhaps tonight was the last start for Berrios in a Twins uniform. Time will tell.
Reynaldo Lopez started the game on the White Sox pitching front, and it was pretty rough early. Luis Arraez hit a single to left field and advanced to third base after Lopez's errant pick-off throw. Josh Donaldson hit a deep enough fly that Sheets ran down short of the warning track in right field, but quickly the Twins were ahead 1-0.
Lopez's hanging slider was the first of Garver's home runs in the second inning. After a scoreless third inning, manager Tony La Russa decided that Lopez's night was over. Lopez went 3 IP 2 H 2 R 1 ER 1 BB 3 K throwing 27 strikes in 44 pitches. The fastball was OK, averaging 95 mph in velocity and generating two whiffs on 13 swings. However, the slider still isn't sharp, and the changeup is still a work in progress.
Matt Foster was next in line and suffered a scare in the fifth inning. After allowing Garver's second home of the night, Foster was hit by Max Kepler's line drive. Luckily, Foster was not seriously injured, and the liner deflected Danny Mendick for the out. Remaining in the game, Foster had another comebacker hit at him, but this time fielded the grounder and started the inning-ending double play.
Codi Heuer pitched a scoreless sixth inning striking out a batter and walking one. Covering the seventh inning was Aaron Bummer. His slider was on point shutting down the Twins offense. This unit had a tough time last Friday against Houston, but tonight, the trio of Foster, Heuer, and Bummer was good enough to buy time for the White Sox offense.
Game Notes:
- Prior to the game, the Chicago White Sox announced Luis Robert will be making his rehab start in Winston-Salem starting Wednesday.
- Danny Mendick went 0-for-2 laying down a very questionable sacrifice bunt in the third inning, and Leury Garcia was 0-for-3. He did have a nifty tag on Nick Gordon for a caught stealing. Still, the White Sox could use some more production at second base.
- Gavin Sheets in 16 games is hitting .245/.333/.633 with 5 HR and 14 RBI.
- After the game, Matt Foster was returned to Charlotte.
