Twins 12, White Sox 2: Yikes

After the drubbing the White Sox took yesterday afternoon against the Orioles, I was hoping for better things in Minnesota tonight. Unfortunately, I have to keep hoping. The White Sox came out and played like complete garbage in all facets of the game.

Baserunning: Alexei Ramirez was gunned down at the plate in the first inning by a good eight feet trying to score on a single by Melky Cabrera with Jose Abreu coming up.

Fielding: In the bottom of the second, Ramirez booted a two-out grounder by Danny Santana. Brian Dozier then singled, and with Santana in motion on the pitch, he just kept running. Adam Eaton failed to get the ball in to the infield and when he did finally do it, Abreu bobbled it anyway allowing Santana to score from first on a single to center. Eaton also could have made a nice play on a Joe Mauer double, but couldn't control it after it hit the glove in the third. Then, Eduardo Escobar singled to center that was easily going to score two. Eaton decided to throw it home anyway and launched it off of the backstop, allowing Escobar to get all the way to third base. Eaton can use a day off.

Pitching: Chris Sale was bad. The defense was bad behind him, but Sale couldn't pitch over anything this evening. The Twins singled him to near death and then Brian Dozier finished the job with a three-run bomb to make it 9-2 in the third inning. Sale's final line: 3 innings, nine hits, nine runs, eight earned, two walks and four strikeouts.

Hitting: The White Sox did show some life in the top of the third, when trailing 2-0, they tied it up on four singles by Micah Johnson, Eaton, Cabrera and Abreu. That was it for the rest of the game. The Sox did have 12 hits, but could only push across those two runs. They loaded the bases in the sixth to chase Twins starter Trevor May, but Eaton grounded softly to short on the first pitch that Caleb Thielbar offered to end the threat.

If we are looking to salvage some positives, Micah Johnson reached base three times, Alexei Ramirez had two doubles in the second spot of the order and Avisail Garcia had two singles. Scott Carroll and Dan Jennings pitched well out of the bullpen throwing four perfect innings, but Jake Petricka's struggles continued when he gave up three runs in the bottom of the eighth, to give the Twins their 12 runs.

I'm embarrassed. The White Sox should be, too.

Record: 8-11 | Box