Shields experienced tightness in his back during an 11-3 loss to the Twins on Saturday, when he gave up five earned runs on five hits and four walks in 2 1/3 innings.
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It was a moment of levity at the end of a stressful day. First baseman Chris Carter added two hits, a home run, two runs scored and three RBIs.
But the Twins easily erased their early four-run deficit when Buxton continued a monster series of his own with a game-tying grand slam off Anthony Ranaudo in the second inning. He is 6-for-10 with two home runs since being called up on Wednesday.
Brian Dozier, Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano and Trevor Plouffe all went deep before nine outs had been recorded as the Twins won for just the second time in 17 games. While the Chicago White Sox, despite their hot April 2016 start, will not be making the playoffs this season (14.5 GB in the AL Central and 9 GB in the AL Wild Card Race), that does not mean that they are not worth watching, even if they are playing seemingly meaningless games against such teams as the Minnesota Twins. “I don’t know how many of those we’ve had that would rank up there with that one”.
Coming into play on Labour Day, the Cubs were an astounding 16.5 Games ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals (who says that you can’t clinch by Labour Day any more). On Saturday the 22-year-old hit a two-run home run that was estimated at 439 feet. About the only difference between Thomas and Abreu over their first three seasons is that Thomas walked a lot while Jose Abreu doesn’t.
Abreu knocked in Cabrera on a run-scoring single in the top of the fifth, but Minnesota tacked on two more in the bottom of the inning on Murphy’s solo shot and an RBI double by Dozier. Abreu’s second three-run homer of the game got the White Sox back within 9-8.
Juan Minaya pitched an inning of scoreless relief to earn the victory. Abreu has 11 hits in 23 at-bats in his last five games. In 1974, he led the AL in homers again with 32 and batted.301.
Dozier became the second Twins player with a three-homer game this year. REDEMPTION OPPORTUNITY The Twins recalled catcher John Ryan Murphy from Triple-A Rochester, a chance for him to improve upon the 3-for-40 start to the season that prompted his demotion.
Only Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew has hit more homers in a single season in Twins history. “But he puts it behind him, he comes in and works, does all the things you expect a guy that’s a pro to do”. “I think we can all appreciate the third one a little more because we were up by a little bit and it wasn’t as close of a game”. It was Dozier’s 19th since the All-Star break, the most in baseball, and seventh in his last 11 games at home. Morneau is expected to be in the starting lineup on Monday when Chicago begins a three-game series against Detroit.
Rodon wasn’t as sharp as his previous five outings when he was 3-0 with a 1.47 ERA, with each one a quality start.
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Since the Sox made what has turned into a regrettable trade for him on June 4, Shields has wrapped two very poor stretches around one good one. Twins RHP Jose Berrios was named the starter for Monday’s series opener against the Kansas City Royals.
