The statistics normally would be the stuff of victory for a starting pitcher. Seven innings pitched. One hit allowed. Ten batters struck out. Fifteen of the final 16 batters retired.
Two effective starters, but White Sox's Carlos Rodon bests Twins' Jose Berrios
Berrios' outstanding start marred by rough inning, lack of offensive support.
July 7, 2021 at 5:30AM
For Twins righthander Jose Berrios, however, a gem of a game against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night at Target Field was spoiled by two things: 1) an untidy second inning in which he walked the first two batters and the Twins committed two errors; and 2) a Minnesota attack that mustered only one run.
It added up to a 4-1 victory for the AL Central-leading White Sox, who rode a solid start by lefthander Carlos Rodon (7-3) to their ninth win in 11 games against Minnesota this season.
On a rainy, breezy night in front of 18,437, the Twins saw their two-game winning streak end despite a third consecutive strong start by their pitching staff.
"Jose pitched his tail off," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "I mean, he was great."
Berrios (7-3) fanned the side in the first inning, getting Adam Eaton, Yoan Moncada and Jose Abreu to strike out swinging. However, he quickly got into trouble in the second.
Brian Goodwin and Leury Garcia walked to start the inning. On a 3-2 pitch that was ball four to Garcia, Goodwin broke for second, and catcher Ryan Jeffers' errant throw enabled Goodwin to take third. Andrew Vaughn's one-out fly to short right wasn't deep enough to send Goodwin from third, but Miguel Sano's fielding error enabled Garcia to take second. Zack Collins' sharp single to right — the only hit off Berrios — drove home Goodwin and Garcia.
Berrios shouldered the blame.
"That's part of the game. It's my fault I walked two guys," Berrios said. "… [But] I feel proud and happy with what I did."
From the third inning on, Berrios retired 15 of 16 batters and struck out six in that span.
"From the very beginning, he was feeling it," Baldelli said. "He lost it for a pitch or two, but anytime he threw a pitch he didn't like, he found himself pretty quickly and mowed through the lineup."
The Twins, though, had trouble solving Rodon, who came up big in the second when he stranded Jeffers at third and Max Kepler at second by getting a groundout by Sano and a fly out by Gilberto Celestino. In the fourth and fifth, he retired the final two batters after giving up singles.
"When he needed something, he was able to ramp it up," Baldelli said of Rodon. "He starts the game out at 91, 92 [mph], and by the end of the game he's at 100."
The Twins finally got Rodon in the sixth when Luis Arraez led off with a single off Rodon's glove and Nelson Cruz hit a towering fly to right-center that fell for a single when second baseman Garcia and right fielder Eaton couldn't track it. Alex Kirilloff laced a single that scored Arraez, cutting the lead to 2-1. Rodon buckled down and struck out Jeffers and Kepler to limit the damage.
In the seventh, the Twins threatened when Sano led off with a single and took second on pinch hitter Trevor Larnach's groundout. On Andrelton Simmons' grounder to short, Sano made a baserunning miscue, breaking for third and getting tagged out in a rundown. Arraez flew out to center to end the inning. From there, Chicago scored twice off reliever Alexander Colome on an Eaton RBI single and a sacrifice fly by Abreu in the eighth.
"Every team has a baserunning miscue or a play that doesn't get made. You have to find ways to overcome it," Baldelli said. "But when you're only putting a run on the board … that will always be magnified."
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