MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Twins looked well on their way to another shutout loss on Friday night. Perhaps they would have been, too, if not for some outside help.
A defensive collapse — the Chicago White Sox committed a pair of errors on the same play — allowed the Twins to surge ahead in the eighth inning to take their first lead of the night and shortly after, capture a 2-1 win at Target Field after a tense ninth inning.
The Twins’ offense had been mostly dormant, collecting just three hits in the first 7 2/3 innings. But after catcher Ryan Jeffers, a late addition to the lineup after Gary Sánchez was scratched, doubled and Luis Arraez drew a walk with two outs in the eighth inning, the White Sox defense imploded.
With runners on the corners, Carlos Correa hit a ball toward shortstop Tim Anderson, whose throw skipped wildly past first baseman José Abreu. Jeffers scored easily on what was ruled a single for Correa. But as the play continued to unfold, Abreu then corralled the ball and he, too, threw it away. As it bounced near the White Sox dugout, Arraez came home to score the go-ahead run, awakening what had been a mostly silent Target Field crowd.
The win didn’t come easy, even still, as Eloy Jiménez doubled to lead off the ninth inning off Emilio Pagán, who was in for the second straight day to convert a save. Pagán walked the next two batters to load the bases but wound up skirting away unscathed.
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It’s the second straight win for the Twins, who have found a way to eke by despite lackluster offensive performances.They did so thanks in large part to yet another solid performance from their starting pitcher. Bailey Ober threw five innings in his third start of the season, giving up a run on five hits while striking out six.
The only run he surrendered came in the fifth inning when White Sox left fielder Andrew Vaughn hit a solo home run to center to lead off the frame and give Chicago a lead it would hold until the eighth.
