The Chicago White Sox put up five runs in the first three innings, 10 total throughout the night, and then engaged in a bench-clearing brawl after Minnesota Twins reliever Trevor May hit Jose Abreu with a pitch in the eighth inning of a 10-4 loss.
“He chose to react the way he wanted to react, and I just wanted a new ball,” May told the Pioneer Press. “It’s the M.O. on Abreu is you’ve to get him in. He hit a homer on a slider away earlier. If you look at any video of me ever pitching to him before, I stayed in there pretty solid.”
Byung Ho Park had just been hit by a Nate Jones fastball in the top of the eighth, then stole a base during the blowout. The White Sox, for their part, felt that May hitting Abreu was intentional.
“Yeah. You know, it definitely becomes a reaction to something. I felt that was [intentional], and especially with Pito [Abreu], you’re always sensitive to that and you respond to that,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura told the Star Tribune. “It’s a difference of opinion. We’re not going to back down or be afraid in that situation. You back the guy up. I think, for me, there was intent there.”
No punches were thrown, and the only ejection came after all the players had either returned to their place in the field or to the bench. Ventura continued to argue with the umpire and was ejected.
As far as the game goes, the AL Central leading White Sox jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the first three innings, but the Twins closed the gap to 5-4 in the fifth. Chicago added two runs in the bottom of the fifth, however, and then three more in the seventh to basically seal the game.
Minnesota has lost three in a row and seven of their past eight, and now have fallen to a franchise-record 2-13 on the road. An error by Eduardo Escobar led to a two-run first inning. Failing to cover first base on a infield-in grounder cost Ricky Nolasco a few more runs. A potential inning-ending ground ball to reliever Fernando Abad landed at his feet but he couldn’t find it, leading to two more.
“The trend is concerning, because it seems to be a pattern,” Twins manager Paul Molitor told the Star Tribune. “A couple plays don’t get made, and it changes the game. Offensively, we had a couple good things happen again, but the deficits are getting larger. We’re not putting many zeros on the board.”
[Star Tribune, Pioneer Press, Associated Press]
