White Sox fall to Twins, look to avoid winless road trip in Thursday afternoon’s series finale
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Chicago White Sox conclude their seven-game road trip Thursday afternoon in Minnesota.
They’re hoping not to come home winless.
The White Sox fell to 0-6 on the trip and dropped their sixth straight overall in Wednesday night’s 6-3 loss to the Twins, continuing a miserable start to the season. Chicago is 3-21 entering Thursday.
In Wednesday’s game, Willi Castro hit a 3-run home run on his 27th birthday and Joe Ryan pitched six innings for his first win of the year to put the Twins on the verge of a four-game series sweep.
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Castro’s homer capped a four-run second inning against Chicago left-hander Garrett Crochet, who surrendered five runs on seven hits in four innings. He’s lost his last three outings to drop to 1-4 on the season.
“His stuff was working, it was effective. They had a good plan going into the game,” said White Sox catcher Korey Lee, who hit a solo homer in the third. “He’s been doing well all year, and I think they obviously did their homework on him.
“We do our homework on them, and they put the bat on the ball. When you put the bat on the ball, good things happen in this game.”
For Minnesota, Ryan (1-1) had a pair of three-strikeout innings, but he also allowed solo homers in the third to Kevin Pillar and Lee. The Twins righty struck out eight and gave up three runs to win for the first time this season in five starts.
Following the two homers, Ryan responded by striking out three batters — all swinging — in a scoreless fourth. He also pitched a 1-2-3 sixth inning to end his night.
“He just kept pitching today,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “I thought it was a very solid outing for Joe. He did his normal missing bats and not really walking (guys). … That’s great stuff. That’s exactly what we’re looking for.”
The Twins had 13 hits, and Castro’s three-run homer in the second off Crochet extended Minnesota’s lead to 4-0. It was his second career homer on his birthday.
“It’s the best birthday I’ve had so far,” Castro said.
Castro entered the game batting .169 with one homer and four RBI as one of several Minnesota hitters struggling at the plate in the first month of the season. He also added a double off Crochet in the fourth for his second multi-hit game of the year.
Chicago executed a double steal in the fifth to cut Minnesota’s lead to 4-3. Lee beat a throw from Twins catcher Carlos Santana to steal second base, allowing Braden Shewmake to score from third base.
The Twins added two runs in the bottom of the inning, however. Pinch-hitter Max Kepler’s bloop to shallow center drove in Manny Margo, and Kepler later scored on a wild pitch. Kepler has driven in a run in each of his three games since returning from the injured list.
Griffin Jax pitched a scoreless inning for his third save of the year.
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Up next
Chicago right-hander Michael Soroka (0-3, 7.50 ERA) is looking for his first win of the year after allowing five runs in each of his last two starts. The Twins announced after Wednesday’s game that Simeon Woods Richardson (1-0, 1.69) will be recalled from Triple-A St. Paul to start Thursday’s series finale. Bailey Ober’s start will be pushed back to Friday in Anaheim.
First pitch Thursday at Target Field is scheduled for 12:10 p.m.
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