Uninspiring defense and Byron Buxton hand the White Sox another loss

The South Siders fall to the Twinkies in a 4-2 loss

The White Sox made Bailey Ober look like a Cy Young contender with sleepy bats and uninspiring defense. Thanks to a few errors and Byron Buxton simply existing, the Twins walked away with a win.

In the top of the first, Luis Robert Jr. just missed a home run with two outs, but ended with a stand-up double off Ober. Unfortunately, that was a waste when Andrew Vaughn sent that ball straight to the glove of Byron Buxton to end the inning.

Davis Martin kept things under control in the bottom of the frame with just seven pitches and help from Robert, who robbed Buxton of a potential home run in center field.

Edgar Quero started the second with a base hit. Brooks Baldwin advanced Quero to third when a hit snuck through, putting runners in the corners with one out. In his first at-bat for the White Sox, Bobby Dalbec worked up a full count and walked to load the bases. Jacob Amaya sent Quero home with a sac fly, putting the Good Guys on the board and two left on base for Nick Maton. Alas, Maton struck out, stranding the runners.

Trevor Larnach drew a four-pitch walk from Davis to start the bottom of the second. Andrew Vaughn and Lenyn Sosa botched a double play from Carlos Correa’s hit, which resulted in no outs and two on.

A hit from Ty France tied the ball game. Sosa slightly redeemed himself by snagging a hit for a twin killing. Brooks Lee picked up a walk, but Davis rebounded with a strikeout on Harrison Bader.

The Sox were retired in order to start the third, and the Twins took the lead in the bottom of the frame. After collecting two outs, one of which was a strikeout to Buxton, Martin walked Luke Keaschall after a full count. Larnach tapped a ball in front of the plate that Quero scooped up, but it was missed, coming off as E3. With Quero not at the plate and the ball still very much alive, Keaschall stole home to give Minnesota a 2-1 advantage. Correa ended the inning with a pop out.

During the broadcast in the bottom of the inning, Brooke Fletcher announced that Martín Pérez was diagnosed with a left flexor strain and will be out for a significant portion of the season.

Quero started the top of the fourth with a single, but Ober would get back-to-back strikeouts. Dalbec worked to keep the inning alive with a double that bounced fair, but Amaya would leave them stranded.

Lee got on base again for the Twinkies, this time via a single, and Bader got hit by a pitch to quickly put two on after two easy outs. Edouard Julien kindly kept the runners stranded with a ground out.

Maton singled to start the fifth, and Andrew Benintendi decided he would do the same. After a strikeout from Robert, the Twins turned a double play to keep the White Sox from scoring.

Martin started to show more signs of a struggle in the bottom of the fifth, and a one-out single from Keaschall didn’t help. But he managed to get Larnach to hit into a double play to end the inning.

Quero, now 3-for-3, hit the ball into right field to start the sixth. However, Sosa immediately hit into a pitcher’s best friend, and Baldwin went down on strikes.

Mike Vasil took over for Martin in the bottom of the sixth and shut down the Twins in order. Joshua Palacios managed a one-out single in the top of the seventh, but was left on base. Vasil was back out for the seventh and started by issuing a walk to Lee, but was able to keep the Minnesota hitters quiet for another inning.

A detrimental walk to Keaschall in the eighth would set Larnach up for a two-run homer off Vasil, putting the Twins up by three. With only one out, Vasil plunked France and gave up a hit to Jeffers. One liner and a strikeout later, the Sox were thankfully out of the inning from Hell.

Sosa beat out a throw to first to start the ninth, and Baldwin picked up a walk off closer Jhoan Duran. After a nine-pitch at-bat, Matt Thaiss, who came in to pinch hit, loaded the bases by drawing a free pass with no outs. Michael A. Taylor stepped in to run for Thaiss. Palacios struck out, and Maton had a productive out, plating a run and bringing the lead within two. Benintendi worked up a count and put the ball in the air, but Buxton robbed Benny and the South Siders of additional runs in a heroic catch.

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