Robert's late HR a boost until defense falters in extras

MINNEAPOLIS -- For a brief moment in the top of the ninth inning Tuesday night at Target Field, White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. played the role of hero.

In the bottom of the 10th inning, the White Sox defense gave away those heroics and a 4-3 victory to the Twins.

Robert Jr. tied the game at 3 in the ninth on a first-pitch home run off hard-throwing Twins closer Jhoan Duran. But third baseman Hanser Alberto threw away Michael A Taylor’s first-pitch bunt off reliever Jesse Scholtens in the 10th, allowing pinch-runner Willi Castro to score the game-winning run.

Alberto's throw caromed off the top of Taylor’s helmet as he reached first about the same time as second baseman Romy González, who was covering on the play.

“Everything is on me. [I need to] continue to keep my head up and get ready for tomorrow,” Alberto said. “That was a bad, bad throw. It was a completely bad throw, right to the runner. I threw a little bit sidearm, and that’s why the ball ran into the runner. It was the game.”

“I have to see the timing of it,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “I’ve got to see where the runner was in comparison to where [González] was, if he was standing on the bag or getting to the bag at the time. I don’t know where the throw was yet. I have to see the play before I dissect it.”

Duran topped out at 103.3 mph, per Statcast, and recorded five swings and misses among his 24 pitches. There was “no chance” Robert Jr. was looking for a first-pitch curve with that dominant velocity and movement in mind.

“Having good games, bad games, that’s normal. But I feel pretty good right now,” said Robert Jr. through interpreter Billy Russo. “The most important thing is to keep doing things that I know I can do. It’s just that, just trying to keep playing.”

These late-inning moments overshadowed Minnesota starter Pablo López retiring 23 in a row with 10 strikeouts and one walk after allowing two runs in the first four batters he faced. White Sox starter Lance Lynn struck out 10 without a walk over six innings, but Lynn was more upset about giving away a two-run lead in the bottom of the first on Donovan Solano’s single and Byron Buxton’s 100th career home run.

“You can’t have that,” Lynn said. “You get two in the first. He throws a bunch of pitches, and I gotta have a quick inning, and I didn’t. I had a long inning, I give the lead right back, and it was tied. That one is on me.”