Disastrous start continues for White Sox with loss to Twins
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Alex Kirilloff hit a two-out, game-ending single after Byron Buxton led off the ninth inning with a tying homer, and the major league-worst Chicago White Sox fell to 3-20 with a 6-5 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night.
Chicago joined Cincinnati in 2022, Detroit in 2003, the St. Louis Browns in 1936 and the Cleveland Spiders in 1899 as teams to start 3-20. The 1988 Baltimore Orioles began 1-22.
"We've got to win games, man," White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. "Bottom line."
Trevor Larnach hit a 433-foot, two-run homer in the eighth to get the Twins within 5-4 and help set up the heroics by Buxton and Kirilloff against Steven Wilson (1-2). Buxton hit a line drive off the left-field foul pole, and Kirilloff pulled the ball into right field to score pinch-runner Austin Martin with the winning run.
The Twins have won three of four after a five-game skid.
"We've been putting in the work to snatch games like that," Buxton said. "Those will be the wins that get us back on track and get us going."
Kirilloff struck out four times before coming through with his second career walk-off hit.
Jay Jackson (1-1) allowed one run in two innings of relief for the Twins, striking out four.
Eloy Jiménez hit a three-run homer and starter Erick Fedde struck out a career-high 11 batters for the White Sox. Fedde allowed one run on three hits — all in the first inning — in his best performance since signing with Chicago during the offseason. The right-hander spent 2023 pitching in South Korea.
After his rocky first inning, Fedde retired the next 13 batters in order. That included two strikeouts each in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings.
"If you want to be successful," Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli said, "you've got to find ways to win games that are really not going your way and they're stressing you in a tough fashion."
Andrew Benintendi put Chicago ahead 5-2 with a two-run single in the eighth.
Jiménez's three-run homer just inside the left-field foul pole gave Chicago a 3-1 lead in the fourth. Twins starter Pablo López threw 38 pitches in the inning, his last. It was the second time in his past three starts he was pulled after four.
"Not a lot went right for a while in the game," Baldelli said, "but you find a way."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Twins: President of baseball operations Derek Falvey confirmed top prospect Brooks Lee has a herniated disk. Lee is doing "very light, baseball-type activity," Falvey said. ... RHP Jhoan Duran (right oblique strain) began a rehab stint with Triple-A St. Paul on Saturday. RHP Justin Topa is expected to begin his own Triple-A rehab stint Thursday.
UP NEXT
Chicago LHP Garrett Crochet (1-3, 5.61 ERA) is scheduled to face RHP Joe Ryan (0-1, 3.57) Wednesday night in the third game of the four-game series.