Twins’ missed first-inning chance eventually costs them in 3-1 loss to White Sox

CHICAGO — Erick Fedde’s first inning was a disaster waiting to happen, with two walks and a single loading the bases before Chicago’s starter could record an out. Bailey Ober, on the other hand, didn’t even allow a hit until the fifth inning.

The contrasting beginnings, though, don’t reflect the game’s conclusion.

Fedde escaped without allowing a run in any of his five innings, while Ober surrendered three runs, including Luis Robert Jr.’s 416-foot home run, and took the loss, 3-1 at Guaranteed Rate Park.

The defeat, in the first game of a doubleheader, was the White Sox’s first in nine games against the Twins this season. Pablo López was scheduled to face Chicago’s Drew Thorpe in the second game.

The Twins’ first-inning failure seemed to energize Fedde, who never allowed another Twin to advance past first base. He retired José Miranda on a shallow fly ball to center field, Carlos Santana on a strikeout, and Brooks Lee on a forceout a second base. The Twins considered challenging the call — Trevor Larnach seemed to arrive simultaneously with Nicky Lopez’s throw — but chose not to, ending the inning.

The Twins, who have averaged nearly seven runs per game in July, scored only once, when Matt Wallner lined reliever Jordan Leasure’s first pitch of the seventh inning into the seats in right field.

That home run marked the 27th consecutive game in which a Twin has homered, tying them with the 2019-20 Astros and 2002 Rangers for the third-longest such streak in major-league history. Only the Braves’ 28-game streak last season, and the Yankees’ 31-game streak in 2019 was longer.

BOXSCORE: Chicago White Sox 3, Twins 1

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