...And then you lose three games to the Twins
/As much as the White Sox look like a real damn team when Jose Abreu is making the field look 200-feet long and Conor Gillaspie's dinked singles are making the outfield look like an ocean, they play a real convincing last-place team when they're sleepwalking through an entire series against the Minnesota pitching staff and trying to prop up an overwhelmed starter who mysteriously spins apart in multiple trips through the order.
Better said, the White Sox lost their third-straight to the Twins as they spurned an early 2-0 advantage against Kevin Correia, another big inning chased Andre Rienzo before he could complete five innings, and another attempt to redeem an entire day of lethargy against Glen Perkins in the ninth proved ill-advised.
As it is wont to do, Rienzo's command didn't come out for the fifth. In five batters, the only one he faced that didn't demolish a bullet off him was Brian Dozier, who he plunked. Despite the crappy year the famed Twins Face of the Franchise is having, Reinzo could not escape essential White Sox destiny, and gave a back-breaking, lead-yielding, booming double off the left field wall to Joe Mauer, and followed it up by giving up an RBI single to the ghost of Kendrys Morales to make it an insurmountable 4-2 Twins advantage.
The other tally against Rienzo came in the second, where, in true Rienzo fashion, he blew away the first two batters of the inning before allowing three-straight hits and walked Sam Fuld in a situation where he could not afford to walk Sam Fuld.
Sox bats nearly saved the lanky Brazilian from his fifth-straight losing decision in their third-straight late-game tussle with Perkins. Adam Eaton saved a hitless day with a lead-off triple and scored on a sac fly. Paul Konerko, Platoon Pinch-Hitter lined another single to put the tying run along, but when Perkins can suddenly turn it on to strike out Jose Abreu and Adam Dunn back-to-back, that's all the cards the Sox have to play. Abreu fouled off his game-winning pitch on 2-2 hanging curveball, then struck out on a curveball that was, obviously, significantly better.
Despite that, Abreu provided the game's best offensive moment, feeling through crummy Correia breaking balls in the first inning before hammering a deep RBI single to score Conor Gillaspie, who also had tripled. The Sox tripled a lot for such a depressing offensive performance. They managed just three more hits off Correia over his final five innings--though the control artist did walk in a run in the second--while putting together a 1-9 day with runners in scoring position.
The World Cup was on.
Team Record: 35-40
Next Game: Friday at 1:10 p.m. CT at Minnesota on CSN
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