Twins 5, White Sox 3: Winless road trip in sight

The White Sox dropped to 0-4 on the road trip, and it's easy to pin it on Hector Noesi. After all, the offense actually gave him three runs over the first three innings, and Noesi gave up a pair of homers to blow the lead.

But ... it's hard to get excited about three runs. Especially three runs the way they scored them.

Second inning: With runners on second and third and nobody out, Geovany Soto struck out. Then Micah Johnson grounded out for one run (an infield single overturned with a challenge), and J.B. Shuck singled to center for the second. But because we can't have nice things, he was thrown out easily trying to stretch it into a double.

Third inning: With runners on first and second and nobody out, Adam LaRoche grounded into a double play. Avisail Garcia picked him up with an RBI single ... but because we can't have nice things, he was then thrown out trying to steal second (which Robin Ventura challenged unsuccessfully, although Garcia looked safe -- just not enough to overturn the initial call).

The Twins countered with a pair of homers -- a Trevor Plouffe solo shot in the second, and a Torii Hunter two-run job in the third. That's the kind of quick-strike ability the Sox have lacked, as this marked the seventh consecutive game without a home run.

Noesi exited in the fifth inning, leaving runners on the corners with one out for Carlos Rodon. Rodon walked Joe Mauer, then gave up a 3-2 single to Plouffe and a sac fly to Kurt Suzuki. Minnesota took a 5-3 lead, and the Sox couldn't even get a baserunner to third the rest of the way.

They did put together a mildly interesting threat in the eighth. Melky Cabrera singled, then moved to second two batters later when Tyler Flowers (pinch-hitting against a lefty for LaRoche!) walked. That brought Garcia to the plate with two outs, but he flied out to deepish right center to end the inning. Glen Perkins nailed down the save with a 1-2-3 ninth.

Bullet points:

*Rodon scattered six hits and a walk over his three innings, but zero runs. Although allowing two inherited runners to score makes the personal scorelessness a hollower accomplishment.

*Jake Petricka kept Rodon's runs column clean by getting a double play ball from Brian Dozier, the only batter he faced.

*The Sox made three outs on the basepaths, as Ramirez was tagged out oversliding second base on what would've been a successful steal attempt for a SHOTHO.

*Conor Gillaspie's double was the only extra-base hit, which is perhaps why the Sox keep trying to advance 90 feet in other forms.

Record: 8-13 | Box score | Play-by-play | Highlights