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 Whatever it is, the White Sox hope he continues to do it.
Noesi was very good Thursday, allowing only three hits and two runs
over seven-plus innings as the White Sox defeated the Minnesota
Twins 5-2 at Target Field.
The 27-year old Dominican, pitching for his third organization this
season, was better than his line suggested. He allowed only one hit
through seven innings, a bloop single by Twins third baseman Trevor
Plouffe in the fourth inning that landed between three Chicago
defenders. He retired 19 of the first 22 batters he faced and 11 of
12 after the Plouffe single until the eighth inning, when a single
and a two-run homer knocked him from the game.
"He's had some games where he deserved better," Ventura said. "Even
tonight, it was one mistake. They hadn't really hit anything hard
off him all night. He gave up two runs on one mistake."
The outing was Noesi's longest since back-to-back eight-inning
efforts in May of 2012. He lost both of those games, however. Noesi
(5-6) entered the game with a 5.21 ERA this season.
"Everything was working today," Noesi said. "When you have command
with your fastball, every pitch you can mix in and they're going to
swing and miss."
It helped that the White Sox were able to provide early run support
as well. After a quiet first two innings, the White Sox got the bats
going in the third. A two-out double by center fielder Adam Eaton
ahead of a sharp RBI single up the middle by shortstop Alexei
Ramirez gave Chicago a 1-0 lead.
Twins starter Phil Hughes was knocked from the game to start the
fourth inning after a smash up the middle by designated hitter Adam
Dunn hit the right-hander just above the right ankle.
Chicago welcomed reliever Samuel Deduno with two singles to load the
bases with two outs. Deduno missed on a full-count pitch to catcher
Tyler Flowers to walk in a run before leaving a pitch up to Eaton,
who smashed a two-run single up the middle to make it 4-0.
Eaton finished the night 3-for 5 with a pair of RBIs and a run
scored.
"It was a good team win tonight," Eaton said. "Noesi pitched his
butt off and we had some timely hits."
Hughes was diagnosed with a right shin contusion and is considered
day-to-day after X-rays showed no breaks. He allowed four hits and
two earned runs in three-plus innings, striking out four.
"It hurt so bad, I knew something was up," Hughes said. "I'm really
thankful it isn't broken. Upset I couldn't continue, but that's the
way it goes."
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The injury to Hughes was a worst-case scenario for a Twins club with
a rotation already in-flux. An injury to Kyle Gibson forced long
reliever Anthony Swarzak into a spot-start Wednesday against
Cleveland, where he threw 74 pitches -- making him unavailable for a
few days. The injury to Hughes forced Deduno, Minnesota's other
innings-eater out of the bullpen, to go four innings Thursday.
Gibson was scheduled to start Wednesday, was pushed back to
Saturday, but is likely to have it pushed back yet again to sometime
early next week.
With an off-day coming Monday, Hughes said he is hopeful about
making his next start on time.
"It'll be a couple of days before I can really do anything on it,"
Hughes said. "But with the way the rotation is going right now, I
feel a responsibility to get out there."
NOTES: The Twins traded DH-1B Kendrys Morales to the Seattle
Mariners in exchange for RHP Stephen Pryor. Morales signed a
one-year contract with the Twins on June 8 and hit .234 with one
home run in 39 games. Morales will join the Mariners on Friday.
Pryor was assigned to Triple-A Rochester ... The Twins recalled SS
Jorge Polanco from Double-AA New Britain on Thursday to take the
place of Morales on the 25-man roster. Polanco has played in four
games with Minnesota this season and has a double and a triple in
five at-bats. He also has three RBIs and two walks. ... The Twins
recalled RHP Ryan Pressly from Rochester on Wednesday after
designating veteran RHP Matt Guerrier for assignment. ... The White
Sox placed RHP Zach Putnam on the 15-day disabled list with right
shoulder inflammation. Chicago recalled RHP Andre Rienzo from
Triple-A Charlotte.
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