White Sox fall but show plenty of fight

MINNEAPOLIS -- Ross Detwiler had a vision of how the Twins’ 9-8 victory in 12 innings Tuesday night at Target Field might play out before the veteran White Sox southpaw took the mound.

“For whatever reason, I woke up today thinking we were going to score seven runs,” Detwiler said. “That kind of helped me throughout the day.”

• Box score

Maybe Detwiler should have envisioned 10 runs instead.

Or he could have had an early view of the White Sox holding on to a one-run lead in the 11th or a two-run lead in the 12th, which they failed to do on both occasions.

Instead, the White Sox lost their fourth straight, fell to 65-86 overall and suffered their third walkoff loss on this final nine-game road trip of the 2019 season. They were beaten in Seattle by an Omar Narvaez home run that actually appeared to be a double and a walk-off bases-loaded walk issued by Jose Ruiz.

On Tuesday, Ruiz hit Ronald Torreyes with the bases loaded to complete the Twins’ three-run 12th-inning victory rally.

But the White Sox fought. They fought even without their All-Star ace Lucas Giolito, who was shut down after Monday's game with a mild lat strain. They fought even knowing they had to be more vigilant about using their bullpen due to Dylan Covey being scratched from Wednesday’s start with shoulder soreness, meaning Ivan Nova will forgo his side bullpen session and pitch one inning as the opener against the Twins.

They fought even upon falling behind, 5-0, after Minnesota’s five-run third. They just didn’t have enough.

“We just fell short, but those kids should be proud of themselves for not quitting,” a somewhat defiant and proud White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. “That was some kind of a battle against one of the best teams in the big leagues, and we are right there toe to toe.”

“Those are ones you hate to get away from you,” White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson said. “We competed, we competed throughout the whole game. Gave ourselves a shot to win that ballgame. We just fell short.”

Anderson did everything in his power to put this one in the win column. His four hits raised his Major League-leading average to .336, and his 17th home run, coming against reliever Zack Littell leading off the 11th, temporarily gave the White Sox a one-run lead lost by closer Alex Colome in the bottom half.

The Anderson connection arrived after the White Sox put the first two on base in both the ninth and 10th innings but didn’t score.

“It was huge,” Anderson said of his homer. “He started me off away. I tried to shoot something to right. I fouled it off and he made a mistake in, and I was able to catch him.

“I feel real good. I'm seeing the ball real well. Wherever they pitch me at, I'm hitting it where it's pitched. Not trying to do too much and just taking what they're giving me.”

Ryan Cordell’s two-run homer off Ryne Harper gave the White Sox another lead in the 12th. Zack Collins and Adam Engel knocked out back-to-back homers in the sixth to bring the White Sox all the way back from their five-run hole.

José Abreu’s fifth-inning single raised his AL-leading RBI total to 119 and gave him 300 total bases for the season. It was Abreu’s fourth season with at least 300 total bases, trailing only Frank Thomas with seven and Magglio Ordonez with five, and tied with Paul Konerko on the all-time White Sox list.

Detwiler, making his first appearance since Sept. 2 due to right hip soreness, battled his way through five-plus innings and 83 pitches, getting touched up by Ryan LaMarre and Miguel Sano homers during that five-run third. Sano’s homer made the Twins the first team ever to have five players with at least 30 in the same season.

Close to five hours after Martín Pérez’s first pitch to Leury Garcia, the White Sox lost for just the sixth time in franchise history when getting 20 or more hits. It was a good “rebuild loss,” in lieu of the injury limitations and with all the positives coming from the contest, but it still didn’t sit well with the team.

“Even though it's September, we're still trying to get wins,” Anderson said. “Tonight was a tough loss. Hopefully we can keep that same momentum going tomorrow.”