McCann, Jiménez go deep in 6-4 victory

Though the White Sox struggled for years against Twins starter José Berríos, they solved him early tonight and held on for a 6-4 victory. Leury García reached on an error to lead off the bottom of the first, and though Berríos struck out the next two, James McCann took advantage of the error by hitting a two-run shot.

McCann’s ninth home run of the season put the White Sox up 2-0, but that early lead was short-lived. In the second, Miguel Sanó tied it with a two-run homer of his own. The good news for the White Sox was that Ross Detwiler would not allow any more runs from that point forward. Detwiler completed five innings and allowed those two runs (both earned) on six hits. He struck out three and did not issue any walks.

The score remained 2-2 until the fifth, when the White Sox managed to put another rally together against Berríos. Charlie Tilson, Leury García, Jon Jay, and José Abreu all singled, as they put two more on the board to go up 4-2.

Prior to the ninth inning, the bullpen had a strong night, but it was not drama-free. In the top of the seventh, with the bases empty and one out, the White Sox issued three walks, all by different pitchers (Jace Fry, Juan Minaya, and Aaron Bummer). That brought Jorge Polanco up to the plate in a high-leverage situation, but Bummer settled down and induced an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play. Third baseman José Rondón made an excellent play to start the double play, and second baseman Yolmer Sánchez made a nice throw with a quick release to finish it off.

In the bottom of the eighth, Eloy Jiménez launched a 416-foot blast to center field to extend the White Sox’s lead to 6-2. This home run was the the 13th of the season for Eloy.

As it turned out, the White Sox would need that insurance. Kelvin Herrera came on to close the game out, but he could not get the job done. He faced two batters, and both reached base safely. Ehire Adrianza led off with a single, and Miguel Sanó (yes, him again) hit another two-run homer. Sanó’s home run cut the Twins’ deficit in half and prompted a pitching change, as Alex Colomé took over. Colomé had a strong performance, as he retired all three hitters he faced to shut the door.

The White Sox improved to 38-41, and the Twins fell to 52-29. Tomorrow’s game will start at 3:12 CST, and Iván Nova is the White Sox’s probable starting pitcher. Once again, the game will be on NBC Sports Chicago, and it will be audible on WGN 720.