The Minnesota Twins were unable to hold an early lead, eventually getting overrun by the Chicago White Sox, 11-4 to lose the second of three games between the teams at U.S. Cellular Field.
Minnesota starter Cole De Vries had another strong no decision, allowing an unearned first-inning run and a fifth-inning solo homer from Paul Konerko before giving way to the bullpen in the decisive seventh inning. Relievers Tyler Robertson and Casey Fien struggled to find the strike zone in the seventh as the White Sox sent nine batters to the plate in the inning.
Adam Dunn drilled a two-run homer to knock out Robertson and then Dayan Viciedo delivered a two-run single off Fien who then walked the bases loaded to end his night. Jeff Gray was then able to minimize the damage by coaxing a bases-loaded double play out of Gordon Beckham to end the rally.
The White Sox put away the win in the bottom of the eighth as Dunn struck again with a two-run double to knock out Gray. Minnesota reliever Anthony Swarzak came in and gave up a run-scoring single to Alex Rios and then a two-run home run to shortstop Alexei Ramirez to complete the rout.
Fien (1-1) was tagged with the loss while Robertson earned his first blown save of the season for the Twins. Nate Jones (4-0) earned the win in relief for the White Sox.
The win moved Chicago into a tie for first place with the Detroit Tigers in the Central Division. The loss moved the Twins to 40-57 on the season having dropped three of their last four games. The two teams will wrap up their three-game series on Wednesday afternoon with a 1:10 p.m. CT first pitch.
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