Eduardo Nunez led off the game with a home run off of James Shields, and the Minnesota Twins scored five runs in the top of the ninth. But in between the White Sox were able to score nine runs and put the game out of reach despite Minnesota’s late-game rally.
Perhaps most illustrative of the Twins issues Wednesday night was a triple. Yes, a triple.
With the White Sox up 2-1 in the fifth inning, Nunez hit a fastball over Adam Eaton’s head that ricocheted off of the right field wall toward the infield. Nunez sped around second and caught up to Kurt Suzuki, who had held up between first and second to see if the ball would get caught.
“I saw the play, but I didn’t see Suzuki,” Nunez told the Pioneer Press. “Soon I saw him right in front of myself. On that play, I needed to stop at second.”
Nunez’s speed to third forced third base coach Gene Glynn to waive Suzuki home, where Eaton’s throw beat him by several steps. So, instead of having two men on and one out, they had a man on third when Robbie Grossman flew out to end the inning.
“Kurt has to be somewhat protective of the catch. Nunie’s focus was more on where the ball was rolling than the runner in front of him, and we got into a tough spot there,” Molitor told the Star Tribune. “So we ended up losing an opportunity.”
Nunez, ironically, ended up a triple short of the cycle Wednesday night because his hit was ruled a double. Ricky Nolasco would give up four runs in the sixth inning, finishing 5.2 innings with nine hits, seven earned runs and three home runs, allowing the game to get out of hand.
“Those can be momentum changers,” Molitor told the Star Tribune. “It went from being a good, close game to all of a sudden trailing by eight runs.”
Brian Dozier would extend his extra-base hit streak to 10 games, and the Twins would score five runs in the ninth, but it was too little too late after Nunez’s gaffe and Nolasco’s troubles in the sixth.
“It’s not like you’re expecting to go out and reel off a long winning streak,” Molitor told the Pioneer Press. “It would be great if you did that. You just want to see more consistency.”
[Star Tribune, Pioneer Press, The Associated Press]
