Minnesota hit two home runs, Michael Pineda struck out eight batters over five innings and the Twins held on for the 3-1 win over Lucas Giolito and the Chicago White Sox Tuesday night at Guaranteed Rate Field.
The win was the Twins’ 80th of the season. Cleveland also won Tuesday night, so Minnesota’s lead in the American League Central still stands at 3.5 games.
Pale Hose pitcher, Giolito, shut out the Twins in his last appearance against the club and he pitched nearly as well Tuesday. He struck out nine over six innings, but served up two solo shots to the Twins’ Marwin Gonzalez and Jonathan Schoop in the second inning. The South Siders responded with a run in the fourth, then the Twins’ Eddie Rosario, back in the lineup after missing a few games due to a hamsting problem, hit an RBI single.
After Pineda exited, the bullpen delivered four scoreless innings. Sergio Romo struck out the side in the eighth on 14 pitches and ace lefty, Taylor Rogers, earned his 21st save.
Pineda improved to 10-5 with a 4.16 ERA. Jake Odorizzi gets the ball Wednesday.
Extra innings…
-The Twins are 80-51.
-The Twins need to sweep the White Sox to keep pace with the Indians because the Tribe refuse to lose to the terrible Detroit Tigers. After Tuesday’s 10-1 win, the Indians are now 13-1 against the Tigers this season.
-It wasn’t all good news on Tuesday: Twins outfielder extraordinaire, Byron Buxton, who has been on the injured list for a left shoulder injury, had to cut short his rehab assignment after experiencing more pain, according to MLB.com.
Buxton underwent an MRI on his left shoulder Tuesday morning, and it revealed no structural damage. The 25-year-old will join the team in Chicago on Wednesday to be re-evaluated.
-A little more than 12,000 fans showed up Tuesday night to watch Twins/White Sox at Guranteed Rate Field.