MINNEAPOLIS — Say this for the White Sox, they got another well pitched game in one they really needed to win.
As for the hitting? The 3-1 final score in Wednesday’s loss to the Twins in the rubber game of their AL Central series says it all.
And the defense? Right fielder Gavin Sheets falling down under a Ryan Jeffers fly ball that fell for a triple, and first baseman Andrew Vaughn bobbling a Michael Taylor ground ball, negating a chance to nab Jeffers at the plate, tells that story.
Lucas Giolito recovered from a scary, unsettling pitch that struck Kyle Farmer in the jaw to have his best start, throwing six innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts. But the Sox finished a 2-4 road trip that began in Pittsburgh still searching for a series win in 2023.
“The story of the last couple games is we didn’t swing the bat, that simple,” Grifol said.
“Our pitching has kind of caught stride with what they can do. What we need to do now is put it all together for more than one game. And we will. We have to continue to battle with what we got, get our guys healthy, keep them on the field and put it all together.”
Without injured Tim Anderson, Yoan Moncada and Eloy Jimenez, the lineup didn’t pose a huge threat to Twins starter Sonny Gray (2-0, 0.53 ERA), even if Gray was under the weather. Gray gave up three hits in five innings, the Sox were 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and that was that.
“It’s not what we wanted,” Giolito said of the Sox’ start and injuries, “but it’s the hand we are dealt.”
The Twins, without Carlos Correa, to name one, are not at full strength either. And Farmer was hit by a 91-mph fastball from Giolito that left him down on his knees for several scary moments before he slowly walked off on his own with help from a trainer and Twins manager Rocco Baldelli.
Farmer will require dental work but avoided a fracture.
Visibly upset, Giolito flinched when Farmer was struck, raising his hands to his head. He walked the next batter, Edourd Julien, on five pitches to load the bases. In the middle of the at-bat, pitching coach Ethan Katz came out to the mound.
“It’s something that obviously I feel very very bad about,” Giolito said. “Never want to hit anyone up there. It will rattle you in the moment, but you have to do what you can to regain focus in the situation.”
Giolito got Taylor to hit a ground ball to Vaughn near first base, but Vaughn bobbled the ball, settling for an easy out at first when he might have had a play at home on Jeffers, who reached on the Sheets misplay.
“Frustrating in the moment,” Giolito said. “But those things happen in this game.”
After making four errors in the first two games of the series, this one added to the defensive slump after acceptable and at times spectacular glove work in the first 10 games.
“[Giolito] had been jamming guys all day,” said Sheets, a converted first baseman, said of his slip in right field. “I thought [Jeffers] got jammed a little better, took a hard step in and kind of got turned around with the ball fading into the wind. I feel terrible in that situation, especially with the way Gio is throwing the ball.
“Especially to not get an error there and get that earned on him. That’s terrible.”
Giolito bounced back after the run scored, striking out Byron Buxton and Jose Miranda in a perfect fifth, and he pitched a scoreless sixth before the Twins tacked on two in the eighth against Aaron Bummer. He threw 108 pitches, 13 for swinging strikes.
Lenyn Sosa homered with two outs in the ninth against Jhoan Duran to give the Sox their only run.
Too little, too late, and the Sox are 5-8.
