Twins

6/22 GAME NOTES: Turley Digs Big Hole as Twins are Shut Out for First Time All Season

A mere eight hours and 11 minutes after the game was scheduled to be started, the Chicago White Sox managed to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Minnesota Twins with a 9-0 win at Target Field on Thursday evening. The game was originally slated to begin at 12:10 p.m., but a rain delay of four hours and 50 minutes — the longest in Twins and Target Field history — before the start of the game was the first in a series of events that made it a rough day for Twins fans.

After spending more than a month in first place, the loss dropped the Twins closer to third place (1.5 games ahead of the Kansas City Royals) than first (2.0 games behind Cleveland).

The Twins offense decrescendoed during the series, as it scored nine runs in the opener and then just four runs in game two as it left 12 runners on and was just 2-of-13 with runners in scoring position on Wednesday night. Thursday was just a flat-out offensive dud, as the Twins mounted seven hits but no walks and no runs against White Sox starter Jose Quintana and a pair of relievers. The Twins had not yet been shut out on the season coming into play Thursday.

Twins batters also struck out 11 times on the day. The only real positive offensively was that Eduardo Escobar extended his hitting streak to nine games — a career high.

Nik Turley made his third start of the season for the Twins, and they’ve also gotten progressively worse as he didn’t get out of the first inning. He recorded two outs on 33 pitches, and when the dust settled he had allowed five earned runs on six hits without a strikeout or a walk. That was all the support Quintana needed and then some, as the notorious hard-luck pitcher twirled 6.2 innings of shutout ball, scattering five hits with nine strikeouts and no walks.

It’s unclear how much it mattered, but Turley appeared to tweak his ankle on the second pitch of the game — a changeup to Tim Anderson. In fact, Turley’s early game pitch mix was a point of contention on the broadcast, as he didn’t throw a curveball — largely believed to be his best pitch — until his 22nd pitch of the game.

By that time, the Twins already trailed 4-0.

Nevertheless, Turley wasn’t long for the game, and it became evident quickly. Anderson singled on the fifth pitch of the game, while Melky Cabrera grounded into a forceout at second — which required a replay review to be overturned — before Jose Abreu crushed a 1-0 fastball into the seats in left to give the White Sox a 2-0 lead. Two pitches later, Avisail Garcia doubled to left, and six pitches after that, Todd Frazier doubled the lead with a 405-foot home run of his own.

Ten of Frazier’s 12 home runs have come away from Guaranteed Rate Field this year.

Turley gave up a single to Matt Davidson and got a forceout off the bat of Yolmer Sanchez before a Kevan Smith single — the first of three hits on the day — chased him for left-hander Buddy Boshers. Boshers gave up an RBI single to Adam Engel, then got Anderson to fly out to close the book on the first inning, and Turley’s disastrous day.

Turley was optioned to Triple-A Rochester following the game. Ehire Adrianza was also placed on the disabled list with abdominal issues.

Boshers soaked up the first two post-Turley innings, allowing two earned runs with three strikeouts while racking up 42 pitches. Overall, Boshers, Matt Belisle, Craig Breslow, Alan Busenitz and Chris Gimenez combined to throw the final 8.1 innings, with just Boshers and Breslow (two earned runs in 2.2 innings) being scored upon.

Gimenez gave up two hits, but got out of the ninth unscathed in his sixth appearance of the season. His knuckleball drew some smiles from the visiting dugout, as he managed to run it up to the plate in the 62-63 mph range with pretty good location (12 pitches, nine strikes). He even reached back as high as 85.4 mph — his only pitch above 67 mph — on an 0-2 pitch that Smith split the diamond with for his third hit of the day.

BOX SCORE

Notes

  • The loss dropped the Twins to 16-25 at home on the season, while the White Sox improved to 17-27 on the road.
  • The loss snapped a four-game winning streak over the White Sox, and was Chicago’s third shutout of the season.
  • The Twins went 4-7 on the homestand that concluded on Thursday.
  • Gimenez appeared in his sixth game as a pitcher on the season, tossing a scoreless ninth on 12 pitches.
  • Quintana’s win was the 50th of his career.

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