Two division rivals started a four-game series featuring the American League's worst offenses. In 21 games, the Chicago White Sox were slugging .288 entering the night, with hopes that Danny Mendick could carry his hot bat from Charlotte into the lineup. On the flip side, the Minnesota Twins are not hitting that much better overall (.610 team OPS), and they were the league's worst hitters with runners in scoring position, with a very woeful team OPS of .461 and a dismal .135 batting average.
Fitting with this season's theme, the Twins cashed in with RISP while the White Sox made more MLB history in a 7-0 loss. Eight shutouts for the White Sox in their first 22 games is a feat no other team has accomplished.
Jonathan Cannon had difficulty with the Twins top of the order. With two outs in the first inning, Cannon walked Trevor Larnach and allowed a single to Ryan Jeffers. On that base hit, center fielder Dominic Fletcher missed the cutoff man, allowing Jeffers to advance to second base. Next was Max Kepler, and his line drive split the gap in right field to plate two runs.
Down 2-0 in the third inning, Cannon gave up another run-scoring double, this time to Larnach. Kepler and Willi Castro followed with a pair of run-scoring two-outs hits to push the Twins lead to 5-0. Manager Pedro Grifol stuck with Cannon in the fourth inning and he again found trouble with two outs. Alex Kirilloff singled to keep the inning alive and would later score off Edouard Julien's RBI double.
That was enough for Grifol as he pulled Cannon, who in his second MLB start went 3.2 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, BB, 5 K on 75 pitches.
The best run-scoring opportunity for the White Sox came in the fourth inning. With the last two not leaving the infield, three-straight singles loaded the bases with one out for Andrew Vaughn and Paul DeJong. Trying to inside-out a fastball, Vaughn hit a 104 mph line drive on which Kirilloff made a terrific diving catch at first. That snag robbed at least one run, and when DeJong struck out, so did the White Sox. All seven Sox hits on the night were singles, while the Twins had four doubles and a home run.
One day, the White Sox will play baseball suitable for the modern times.
Game Notes
- Pedro Grifol and Gavin Sheets were ejected for arguing balls and strikes.
- Danny Mendick had a good night at the plate in his return, going 2-for-4.
- Twins starting pitcher Chris Paddack had an ERA north of 8.00 coming into tonight pitched a gem. He went 7.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K
Record: 3-19 | Box Score | Baseball Savant
