Jose Abreu hit an RBI double off the right field wall to drive in Mark Payton with the winning run as the Chicago White Sox snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday afternoon in Minneapolis.
The game was tied 3-3 when Payton led off the eighth with a popup to shallow right that bounced out of second baseman Nick Gordon’s glove for a two-base error. Abreu then drove in Payton with his 38th double of the season off hard-luck loser Caleb Thielbar (4-3).
Payton finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs. Abreu had two hits, Romy Gonzalez had an RBI triple and a run and Josh Harrison added two hits and a run for Chicago (77-79), which moved a game ahead of the Twins (76-80) into sole possession of second place in the American League Central with six games to go.
Reynaldo Lopez (6-4) picked up the win with a scoreless inning of relief. Liam Hendriks earned his 34th save of the season.
Minnesota’s Luis Arraez went 2-for-4 with a walk and a run to increase his batting average to .315, moving ahead of Aaron Judge (.313) in the race for the American League batting title. Gordon had a two-run double and Ryan Jeffers drove in a run with a safety squeeze for the Twins, who finished the season with a 46-35 mark at home.
Minnesota jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning with four hits against Chicago starter Lucas Giolito. Carlos Correa, Arraez and Gio Urshela had back-to-back-to-back singles to load the bases with one out. Gordon then drove in Correa and Arraez with a double into the right field corner.
Chicago tied it 2-2 in the third. Harrison led off with a single and scored when Gonzalez hit a sinking liner past diving right fielder Matt Wallner for a triple. One out later, Payton drove in Gonzalez with a single.
The White Sox took a 3-2 lead in the sixth when Payton and Jose Abreu led off with back-to-back singles. After both runners advanced on a groundout by Gavin Sheets, Payton scored on a sacrifice fly by Andrew Vaughn.
The Twins tied it in the bottom of the sixth thanks to the speed of Billy Hamilton. Gary Sanchez led off with a walk and Hamilton, who pinch-ran for him, then stole second and third and scored on a squeeze bunt single by Jeffers.
–Field Level Media