Luia Arraez calls spoiling White Sox no-hitter 'doing his job'

CHICAGO — As Luis Arraez approached the plate Sunday at Guaranteed Rate Field, the crowd welcomed him with a round of hearty boos.

The Twins' leadoff man was the villain of the White Sox story Saturday, when he broke up Dylan Cease's no-hitter at the last possible moment in the bottom of the ninth with two outs already on the board. For the record, Arraez said Sunday he didn't do anything extraordinary to try to ruin Cease's bid for history against the Twins. Just what he always does.

"I know everybody wants him to throw the no-hitter. Easy for me, I just want to hit the ball and get my base hit. Because I'm on top of batting average right now, and I want to be batting champion," Arraez said. "I need to take care of my job, too. I don't want to step there and strike out because he struck me out in the third at-bat, and everybody knows I hate striking out."

Arraez and Boston's Xander Bogaerts are both hitting .317 atop the American League stats. But as well as individually, Arraez said it was also important for him to prevent the no-no for his teammates, so they didn't have to carry that shame amid a tight playoff race.

It was the first time Arraez had ever broken up a no-hitter throughout his baseball career, but he said he's hopeful the White Sox fans understand he did what he had to do.

"It's a lot of people that don't like me right now, especially here in Chicago," Arraez said. "… I faced one of the best pitchers starting this year. He's one of the best. You can tell because he throws 99, 100, when he wants. He's got location. He can throw a lot of strikes and strike out a lot of people. And especially, he strikes out me. I just want to do my job, and I got my base hit."

Tyler Mahle had only just come off the injured list ahead of his Saturday start, but by Sunday morning, he'd found himself out for at least another 15 days.

The pitcher dealt with right shoulder fatigue, inflammation and soreness in his two innings Saturday similar to what he felt when he left his Aug. 17 start early. Just as it had 2 ½ weeks ago, Mahle's velocity dipped into the 80s in the 13-0 loss at the White Sox. And while he said after the game he felt confident he'd still pitch again this year, with the regular season coming to an end in a month, another IL stay is certainly an obstacle to that.

Reliever Jovani Moran was the one sent down and then called back up again with Mahle's moves. He luckily hadn't left Chicago yet.

As far as what the future of the rotation looks like as the team heads to the Yankees for a four-game series starting Monday, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said he wasn't quite ready to reveal his plans. With Dylan Bundy pitching Sunday, Chris Archer is set for Monday and Joe Ryan for Tuesday. But the final two games are supposed to be Sonny Gray and Mahle.

Gray injured his right hamstring in his start Friday, though he hasn't been too concerned about it. He should throw a bullpen Monday in New York, which will help ensure he can make his next start on time. Aaron Sanchez, who stepped in for the two starts Mahle missed and who pitched five innings Sunday when Mahle had to leave after two, could be the fill-in again at Yankee Stadium.

The Twins could also call up some reinforcements. Josh Winder is returned from injury and has been pitching for the Saints. Bailey Ober has made some rehab starts as well as he works back from a groin strain.

"We might move some guys around and try to find some ways to make the rotation work over the next week and make some adjustments," Baldelli said. "But the specifics of that, we're going to hold off."