Eloy Jimenez hit a two-run homer and had three RBIs in his return from the injured list and Leury Garcia delivered a game-ending single in the 10th inning as the Chicago White Sox beat the visiting Minnesota Twins 9-8 on Wednesday.
Back from a hamstring injury that had him out since April 23, Jimenez sparked the White Sox, who salvaged the finale of the three-game series by snapping a seven-game skid to the American League Central-leading Twins.
Luis Robert and Andrew Vaughn added two-run home runs for Chicago, which took its first lead of the day on Garcia’s winning hit.
Jorge Polanco hit a pair of home runs and Luis Arraez had three hits for Minnesota, which failed to hold the lead on four occasions.
Tied at 5-5 in the seventh inning, Polanco drove the ball just inside the right-field foul pole to homer in consecutive at-bats. But the White Sox got even for the fourth time at 6-6 in the bottom of the inning with Jimenez’s third RBI, on a single to left.
After Gio Urshela’s two-run home run, and third hit of the gave gave Minnesota an 8-6 lead in the eighth, Chicago tied it again on Vaughn’s own two-run homer in the bottom half.
Minnesota loaded the bases in the first and scored on Alex Kirilloff’s ground out that was originally ruled a double play but overturned on replay.
The White Sox got even in their half of the first on Jose Abreu’s RBI double. Like Chicago’s Lance Lynn, Twins starter Joe Ryan threw 29 first-inning pitches. Lynn threw 24 more in the second, allowing Ryan Jeffers’ RBI double and Arraez’s run-scoring single as Minnesota went up 3-1.
The White Sox had a man on in the fourth when Jimenez clubbed his first homer since April 13 to tie it 3-3. The Twins went up 5-3 on Polanco’s two-run homer over the right-field fence in the fifth. With Ryan gone after allowing three runs in four innings, Chicago tied the game on Robert’s two-run homer in the fifth.
Lynn allowed five runs and six hits in five innings. Teammate Yoan Moncada exited in the seventh with a right foot contusion.
Joe Ruiz (1-0) pitched a scoreless 10th inning for the White Sox to pick up the victory. Twins left-hander Jovani Moran (0-1) failed to record an out in the 10th.
–Field Level Media