White Sox shellacked, 11-1

The good news about this game is that it was the last one in the series, and we don’t see the Minnesota Twins for another three weeks. The bad news is that the Chicago White Sox are only about halfway done with the Twins, as we face them in nine more games this season, six of them at Target Field.

So far this season, we have played 10 games against the Twins, and they have taken seven to our three. Perhaps none have been worse than today’s 11-1 drubbing.

Back to some good news: The Sox welcomed Eloy Jiménez back to the lineup and designated José Rondón for assignment. Eloy was today’s DH, while A.J. Reed played first and José Abreu had his first day off all season. I watched the game at my parents’ house and they had some of my extended family over, most of whom declined to be quoted here.

The game started with Dylan Covey making us question his inclusion on the roster by allowing the first five batters he faced to score, using only 15 pitches. Credit due: That is a special talent, and Covey has now failed to finish the first inning in two of his post-IL starts.

Covey failed to retire a single batter in the first and was pulled for Jimmy Cordero, who stopped the bleeding and got through the inning unscathed, giving up only a walk.

The White Sox failed to score after Leury García and Ryan Goins reached base in the first, and didn’t threaten again until the fifth.

With two outs in the third, Cordero gave up another walk and was replaced by José Ruiz, who threw three pitches and retired Jonathan Schoop on a ground ball to Yolmer Sánchez.

In the top of the fourth, after an ugly error by Reed, two more Twins crossed home plate on a Schoop home run, and Josh Osich came in with one on and two out to finish off the fourth.

In the fifth inning, Welington Castillo reached base on an error by Miguel Sanó, and was moved over to second on a Reed groundout, where he was stranded because no one else was able to get it going.

Ross Detwiler recorded a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the sixth, and then in the bottom half the White Sox loaded the bases with nobody out. Jon Jay singled in a run, Eloy was called out on an ankle-high fastball, and Ricky picked up his sixth ejection by doing the Lord’s work and telling home plate umpire Ángel Hernández exactly where to shove it. Welington and Reed struck out and my entire family left the room. My dog also covered her face.

In the top of the eighth after another Twins home run, Jace Fry in, Detwiler out. Nothing doing until the top of the ninth, when Reed came out to pitch and proved to be a better pitcher than half of our bullpen.

Star of the game: Abreu, who ran the stairs beautifully on his day off.

Scar of the game: Dylan Covey. Perhaps he should look for employment in another field. He was optioned to Triple-A immediately following the game, which is a shame for the Knights since Charlotte has a winning record. A corresponding roster move is expected to be announced tomorrow before the start of the game.

Here’s a hot take from my dad on Reed booting a ground ball and hitting about as well as Yonder Alonso: “We got Alonso Reed over here at first. It’s a f***ing ground ball. He should have had that. This guy makes me miss Yonder.”

From my cousin: “Who’s this clown they have playing first base?”

Later in the 9th, my dad came around on Reed: “This guy can’t field and he can’t hit, let’s just turn him into a pitcher. We’re going to get something out of this guy after all!”

Speaking of clowns, check back tomorrow as I preview the upcoming Mets series!