Rodon, White Sox Top Winless Twins, 3-0
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Carlos Rodon worked his way out of trouble several times to complete six scoreless innings, Jerry Sands hit a two-run home run and the Chicago White Sox kept the Minnesota Twins winless with a 3-0 victory on Wednesday night.
At 0-8, the Twins have been outscored 33-13 this season.
The only other winless team in the majors is Atlanta, also 0-8. The Twins beat the Braves in that epic seven-game World Series in 1991 — some 25th anniversary this season is turning out to be for the two teams.
Rodon (1-1) needed 107 pitches to make it as far as he did. He walked five, including the leadoff man twice, but the Twins left the bases loaded in the sixth after filling them with one out. David Robertson pitched a perfect ninth inning for his fourth save in as many attempts.
The Twins struck out nine times and lead the majors with a whopping 88 whiffs. They went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position and fell to an abysmal 5 for 61 this season, an .082 batting average.
Phil Hughes (0-2) gave up the one-out homer to straightaway center field to Sands in the seventh. That was his last batter, but the right-hander pitched well enough to warrant a better outcome. He struck out seven without a walk.
The only runner Hughes allowed prior to the fifth inning was a dribbler up the line by Jimmy Rollins that stopped well before third base. The only run Hughes permitted before the homer came from a double-play ground ball hit by Jose Abreu in the sixth.
Rodon struck out five in a six-batter stretch his first time through the Twins lineup. The 23-year-old left-hander was more vulnerable in the subsequent at-bats, but he didn't cave.
Miguel Sano's walk and Trevor Plouffe's single gave the Twins a lift to start the sixth inning, but Rodon struck out rookie Max Kepler and retired Kurt Suzuki on a foul popup behind the plate to leave the bases loaded.
White Sox starters have finished six innings or more and allowed three runs or fewer in six of eight games this year.
DIVISION DOMINANCE
Rodon is 4-1 with a 1.99 ERA in nine career appearances against AL Central teams.
TRAINER'S ROOM
White Sox: Sands, who played in 50 games for Cleveland last season, was in the starting lineup for the first time with his new team. Regular DH Avisail Garcia, who is 1 for 12 in his career against Hughes with five strikeouts, got a rest.
Twins: LHP Glen Perkins was in the process of conferring with the team's medical staff about treatment for his injured shoulder, which will keep him on the DL longer than the minimum 15-day stay. Perkins was told he has some fraying of the labrum as well as a strain of the rotator-cuff muscles, but he said he didn't believe he'd need additional tests. RHP Kevin Jepsen has taken over as the closer in the meantime.
UP NEXT
White Sox: RHP Mat Latos (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will take the mound Thursday afternoon for the series finale, looking to follow up on a stellar debut with the team. He surrendered just one hit over six scoreless innings last week for the win at Oakland.
Twins: RHP Ervin Santana (0-0, 2.25 ERA) will make his third start of the season Thursday. He gave up two runs over seven innings with six strikeouts last September to beat the White Sox in his only appearance against them in 2015.
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