Joe Mauer’s pinch-hit, walk-off walk in the 12th inning lifted the Minnesota Twins to a 2-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Friday night at Target Field.Eddie Rosario started the inning by getting hit by a pitch before a sacrifice bunt moved him to second.
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Eaton threw out two Twins base runners on Friday, giving him 16 assists this season, tops among Major League Baseball outfielders.
Cabrera lined a two-out, two-strike double into the gap in left-center to score Tim Anderson and Tyler Saladino to put Chicago up 3-1. The Twins almost pulled off their second walkoff win in two nights when Ynoa walked Max Kepler to load the bases for Dozier. “Get those first two quick outs and then you know they string a few hits together, a couple runs, and it’s definitely frustrating”. The highlight being a 2 run blast over the left center field wall by big Kennys Vargas. Morneau homered and recorded an RBI double as Chicago snapped its three-game skid with Saturday’s 6-5 victory.After scoring one run in each of their previous three defeats, the White Sox erupted for 15 hits on Saturday.
“It’s a disappointing game, but it was entertaining”, Twins manager Paul Molitor said. Carlos Sanchez made three tough plays at second, and Garcia ran down a deep drive by Buxton to save a run in the fifth inning.
Minnesota looks to win the three-game series with veteran Ervin Santana on the mound.
“You don’t get that opportunity a whole lot, or I haven’t, I guess, over my career”, Mauer said.
David Robertson pitched the 10th for his 25th save. It was the third straight two-out hit allowed by Twins starter Tommy Milone, and it proved costly.NOTES: DH Jorge Polanco was in the Minnesota lineup Saturday for the first time since May 20.
“Throwing seven innings, it’s really important for us starters, ” he said. The White Sox sent left-hander reliever Zach Duke to the St. Louis Cardinals for speedy minor-league outfielder Charlie Tilson before Sunday’s game.
Former Twins MVP Morneau went 2-for-5 and hit his second homer of the season in the sixth on a 3-1 pitch off Milone that traveled 402 feet into the left-field seats to make it 4-1.
Chris Sale said he addressed his teammates and coaches after Thursday night’s loss to clear the air after last weekend’s freakish episode in which the White Sox ace took a pair of scissors to the team’s throwback jerseys.
Before the game, Ventura admitted it would be hard to part with Quintana or ace Chris Sale, though it remains to be seen if a team could put up a package exceptional enough to pry either from the Sox.
When Eaton led off the game with a home run it marked the 12th time the Twins have given up a home run to the first batter of the game.
“He’s so professional about the way he approaches things”, Ventura said. “He’s not necessarily going to ask for one, but I know he needs one, ” the manager said.
The Sox quickly announced Frazier was out with flu-like symptoms, but that didn’t end the weekend trade watch for a team that last week declared it was open to any deal by Monday’s trade deadline except for adding short-term rentals.
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“The swing feels good, ” he said. He has won just one of those outings however and the White Sox are 2-3 in games he has started since July 1. Santana allowed three runs – one earned – in six innings with five strikeouts.
