MINNEAPOLIS — The losses keep piling up for the Chicago White Sox.
They dropped their sixth straight Saturday, falling to the Minnesota Twins, 9-2, in front of 16,686 at Target Field.
More significantly, left fielder Eloy Jiménez exited with right hamstring soreness after trying to beat a throw to first base in the second inning.
He is being evaluated, the Sox said.
“You walk in the training room and you see him and he’s crying his eyes out,” Sox manager Tony La Russa said. “You walk in and everybody cries. I feel for him. He loves what he does. I told him there will be a lot of season left when he gets back.
”He banged the hamstring serious enough. We have to wait for the MRI to get the final diagnosis, but it makes everybody want to break up. We lost a player two years in a row. I think this is going to be shorter with what he went through with his shoulder. I feel sorry for him.”
La Russa said the indication is that the injury would not be season-ending. More tests are planned.
”It just breaks your heart,” La Russa said.
Jiménez hit a grounder to third, stumbled after crossing first base and fell. He got to his feet but was taken off the field on a cart.
He is slashing .222/.256/.333 with one home run and seven RBIs in 11 games. He dealt with a bruised left ankle for a portion of this season.
Jiménez played just 55 games last season after suffering a ruptured left pectoral tendon during a Cactus League game.
“His energy is contagious,” closer Liam Hendriks said of Jiménez. “It’s something he can turn on and make everybody around him feel like a kid again, which is something currently we need.
“It’s a blow. It’s a blow to him because we know he wants to be on the field. He’s in there every day making sure he’s having fun, getting involved.”
Injuries have been a major story so far this season for the Sox.
Starter Lance Lynn (right knee surgery to repair torn tendon), third baseman Yoán Moncada (right oblique strain) and relievers Joe Kelly (right biceps nerve injury) and Ryan Burr (right shoulder strain) are on the injured list. Reliever Garrett Crochet is out for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in spring training.
Starter Lucas Giolito is expected to return off the IL to pitch in Sunday’s series finale. He has been out with a left abdominal strain suffered on opening day.
The Sox already are missing starting center fielder Luis Robert (groin strain) in this series. Robert suffered the injury Thursday in Cleveland. Manager Tony La Russa is hopeful Robert will return Tuesday against the Kansas City Royals.
Starting right fielder AJ Pollock returned from the injured list (strained right hamstring) Friday.
The Sox overcame a rash of injuries last season en route to winning the American League Central. Their longest losing streak was five games.
This six-game skid — their longest since losing six straight Sept. 20-25, 2020 — has featured poor defense and a lack of clutch hitting.
The Sox couldn’t slow down star Byron Buxton, who had four hits and scored three times Saturday.
The center fielder singled and scored in the first, drove in a run with a double during a two-run second and hit a solo home run during a four-run fourth. Buxton’s fourth-inning blast was the second homer for the Twins in the inning, with Ryan Jeffers hitting the first.
Sox starter Vince Velasquez allowed five runs on eight hits with six strikeouts and one walk in 3 1/3 innings. José Abreu homered and had two RBIs for the Sox, who have not scored more than three runs in each of their last nine games.
