White Sox leave bases loaded; lose 4-3 to Twins
Jul 27, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Chicago White Sox catcher Adrian Nieto (17) gets congratulated after his first career home run in the eighth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
The Chicago White Sox lost the lead in the bottom of the seventh, and left the bases loaded in the top of the ninth to lose to the Minnesota Twins on Sunday by a score of 4-3.
Chicago lost the lead in the seventh when Ronald Belisario (3-7) was unable to record an out in relief of Scott Carroll. Belisario eventually allowed three earned runs on one hit and two walks.
Javy Guerra chipped in with his fourth save of the season.
As for Carroll, he had a no-decision after six innings of work. In that time, Carroll allowed one earned run on four hits and one walk. He struck out four and was the only White Sox pitcher to have a strikeout in the game.
Looking at the way the ninth inning ended for the White Sox, it was just as disappointing as the bottom of the seventh.
Jose Abreu opened the inning with a single, and that was followed with a base hit by Paul Konerko. Abreu finished 2-for-3 with a walk in the loss. He was the lone White Sox batter to have multiple hits.
With one out, Conor Gillaspie forced a walk to load the bases.
All of that meant nothing with Alejandro De Aza striking out swinging for the second out, and Gordon Beckham flying out to left field to end the game. The first out of the inning was a strikeout by Dayan Viciedo with then two runners on the bases.
Pitching in the ninth and gaining his 25th save of the season was Glen Perkins. The win went to Jared Burton, who moves to 2-2 on the year.
It just wasn’t a good day for the White Sox on the field in the final three innings.
A lot of that was due to the same things that have cost this team all season … poor pitching from the bullpen with the lead and certain hitters not gaining clutch hits with runners in scoring position.
It is that simple, and the front office has failed to fix that problem this season.
Am I wrong?
As for the runs scored by the White Sox in the sixth, one was off a sacrifice fly to right field by Alexei Ramirez to score Beckham, and the second run was off a double by Abreu to score Adam Eaton.
The final run by the White Sox crossed home plate in the top of the eighth, a sole home run by Adrian Nieto. It was the first home run of his MLB career.
Chicago will next face the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday, July 29 in Detroit. It will be Jose Quintana (5-7, 3.15 ERA) on the mound for the White Sox. The game will start at 6:08 p.m. CT on CSN.