Chicago White Sox: Big win vs the AL Central leaders
The Chicago White Sox went up to Minnesota to play the Twins and they had a really nice game against the team that leads the division.
The Chicago White Sox had an ugly series with the Los Angeles Angels in California. They allowed Mike Trout to dominate them again and the Angels took three out of the four games in the series. The White Sox have been a lot better overall lately following an extended post-All-Star break slump but things didn’t go well for them on the west coast.
Now they are back in the midwest as they are paying a visit to Target Field to play the Minnesota Twins. The Twins are one of the elite teams in Major League Baseball as they lead the American League Central. The White Sox have played elite teams well this season so the Twins were a perfect challenge for the young White Sox.
The White Sox defeated the Twins 6-4 after nine innings of good team baseball. Ivan Nova got his record back up to .500 as he has really stepped it up in the second half. He did what he needed to do before the White Sox offense got the six runs they needed to win the game.
The offensive highlight of the game was when Jose Abreu hit a three-run home run to give the White Sox a 4-2 lead in the third inning. It was an absolute missile that got out of the park quickly. The three RBIs were Jose Abreu’s 90th, 91st, and 92nd which are good for fourth in the American League. He is going to need to keep producing runs in order for the White Sox to keep winning.
When people remember James McCann‘s incredible 2019 season, they are often going to point to his offense. And why not, because he has had so many incredible moments with his bat and produced stats that nobody would have ever dreamed of from him. The thing is, he has had an incredible year as a defensive catcher as well. That fact was given an exclamation point in this game in Minnesota.
There were runners on second and third with one out when a ground ball was hit to Ryan Goins who elected to throw it home. James McCann made an incredible scoop and tag to keep the Twins from getting within one run at the time. We all know how incredibly difficult it is to make a scoop like that with a catcher mitt and he did so in what could be looked at as a game-saving play. It was a smart decision by Goins and a brilliant play by McCann.
Related Story. Thank you, Bill Walton. light
Lots of things have to go right for a team like the White Sox to defeat a team like the Minnesota Twins and they did on Monday night. It is going to be another night game tonight for the White Sox and Twins. Reynaldo Lopez is going to get the ball to try and get back on track and he will be opposed by Michael Pineda. It is going to be a difficult game for the White Sox but any good team that thinks the White Sox are an easy win down the stretch is going to learn something.