The Chicago White Sox saw second-year player Jose Abreu have a career milestome at the plate in their 6-2 win over the Minnesota Twins Tuesday night.
Abreu had his first four-hit game, which took place at Target Field, finishing the night 4-for-5 with two runs. Abreu raised his season average to .300, being the only full-time White Sox batter with a .300 or better average.
The White Sox slugger also had a double within his four-hit night off starting pitcher Mike Pelfrey, his 12th double of the season. Speaking of Pelfrey, he was charged with the loss. In 6.2 innings, he allowed three earned runs on 10 hits and three walks. The Twins starter struck out four with his ERA moving to 3.06 on the season.
Jose Abreu has 4 hits tonight, a career high. Leadoff single in the 9th.
— Colleen Kane (@ChiTribKane) June 24, 2015
As for the White Sox side of the game when it comes to pitching, Jeff Samardzija was the winner. In seven innings, he allowed two earned runs on eight hits and one walk. Shark struck out seven and allowed one home run in the first inning, off the bat of Eddie Rosario with one out and the bases empty.
In his past three starts, Samardzija (5-4) has allowed seven earned runs in 21 innings, with 21 strikeouts and just two walks. Also in that span, the White Sox righty has allowed 24 hits.
Zach Duke and Jake Petricka combined for two innings of scoreless relief.
Besides the pitching of Shark, the offense of the White Sox finally woke up by not only tallying 15 hits (six doubles), but they were 5-of-16 with runners in scoring position, playing what I believe was their best game at Target Field all season long.
Other than the four hits by Abreu, Geovany Soto was 2-for-4 with a team-high two RBIs on the night, and Adam Eaton was 3-for-5 with one RBI. Melky Cabrera finished 2-for-5 with one run and one RBI.
Jun 23, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Chicago White Sox third baseman Conor Gillaspie (12) throws the ball to first base for an out in the fifth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
With one hit each were Adam LaRoche, Conor Gillaspie, Gordon Beckham and Carlos Sanchez, who also had a nice defensive play in the ninth inning to help seal the win.
The score was tied at 2-2 in the seventh until they took the lead off a base hit by Cabrera, which scored Abreu for a 3-2 advantage. Other White Sox runs came in the top of the fourth with Soto scoring Gillaspie on a base hit, making it a 1-1 score.
Minnesota took the lead in the bottom half of the fourth. Once the White Sox regained the lead in the seventh (they tied it in the sixth off a Soto base hit that scored Cabrera), the “Good Guys” added to their advantage with Eaton doubling in the seventh to score Sanchez, followed by a two-run ninth where Abreu and LaRoche scored runs.
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Joe Mauer led the Twins (38-33) at 2-for-4 from the plate, as the Twins totaled nine hits.
For the White Sox, this is how the team should play on most nights. They finally took advantage of some solid pitching, they put together a very good defensive effort and they batted in runners when they were on the bases at times, though they did leave 11 stranded.
With the way this ball club has played this season, there aren’t many complaints about this win, which puts them at 31-38 overall, seven games under .500 for the season.
Wednesday is an afternoon contest where Chris Sale (6-3, 2.74 ERA) gets the start for Chicago, as he’ll oppose Phil Hughes (5-6, 4.47) of the Twins at 12:05 p.m. CT in Minnesota. The series is tied at 1-1.
Next: Tim Anderson batting .300 in minors