White Sox Hand Twins First Loss With 6-2 Win
CHICAGO (AP) -- Avisail Garcia went 3 for 4 with three RBIs and Geovany Soto homered and the Chicago White Sox handed the Minnesota Twins their first loss of the season with a 6-2 victory on Saturday.
Soto's homer was his third of the season in four games.
Garcia fell a double shy of the cycle. He had a two-run triple in the second inning against Minnesota starter Adalberto Mejia (0-1).
Garcia and Soto hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth.
The Twins (4-1) were looking to start 5-0 for the first time since 1968, but they failed to find the good pitching they had in their first four wins.
Mejia lasted just 1 2/3 innings in his first MLB start, and Minnesota's bullpen allowed three runs, snapping a 16 2/3-inning scoreless streak.
Miguel Gonzalez (1-0) pitched six solid innings for Chicago, striking out six while allowing seven hits. The right-hander has won his past three decisions.
Zach Putnam threw two shutout innings of relief, and Dan Jennings finished the game with a scoreless ninth.
Jason Castro hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning to account for Minnesota's offense.
A DAY TO FORGET
Twins 3B Miguel Sano struggled mightily, both in the field and at the plate. He finished the day with three strikeouts and two errors - one on a botched rundown that resulted in Chicago's third run.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Twins: 1B Joe Mauer was back in the lineup Saturday after sitting out Friday, and, in part due to his injury history, more rest is likely in his future. "Last year he played a lot of games until he came down with a quad injury," manager Paul Molitor said. "(We're) trying to be a little smarter earlier this season."
UP NEXT
Twins: RHP Ervin Santana (1-0, 1.29 ERA) takes the mound in Sunday's series finale.
White Sox: LHP Jose Quintana (0-1, 10.13) allowed six or more earned runs just once over a 49-start stretch in 2015 and 2016, but has since allowed that number in three of his past eight.
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press.