LDN - Sports

Anderson's walk-off single lifts White Sox over Twins

[August 24, 2017] CHICAGO -- Rick Renteria said he was pulling for just this kind of outcome Wednesday night.

With the Chicago White Sox locked in a 3-3 tie with the Minnesota Twins in the ninth inning, Tim Anderson lined a single to left to score Avisail Garcia with the winning run for a 4-3 walk-off victory.

"It's a confidence builder when you get a big hit," said Renteria, the White Sox manager. "We were sitting in there with the last at-bat going and we really wanted this for Timmy. It's a big situation, see how he does and fortunately he was able to get it through the infield."

Anderson sent a 1-0 pitch from Trevor Hildenberger (2-2) with one out in the ninth inning for his first career game-ending hit.

Right-handed reliever Danny Farquhar (3-2) worked a scoreless inning for the win.

Garcia led off the bottom of the ninth with a single to right and reached second on Kevan Smith's sacrifice bunt. An intentional walk to Yolmer Sanchez set the stage for Anderson.

Chicago (49-76) snapped a two-game slide and Minnesota (65-61) saw its two-game winning streak end.

Twins starter Ervin Santana allowed two runs (one earned), scattered three hits and a walk and struck out eight in seven innings.

He almost went eight innings.

"My gut told me after the tough seventh, pitching out of a jam, we could have sent him back out for the eighth," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "I just thought after the seventh, that was a good job getting out of that. I just wanted to turn it over, six outs to go."

The White Sox's James Shields yielded three runs, three hits and two walks while striking out six in six innings.

"He's pitched really, really well," Renteria said. "His ability to share things with the other (younger) guys is really important. It's kind of a two-pronged benefit to us at this particular time and we're going to take advantage of it."

Minnesota snapped a 1-1 tie with two runs in the sixth.

Brian Dozier walked, reached third on Joe Mauer's base hit to right and scored on Jorge Polanco's single to left.

With runners at second and third, a Shields wild pitch got past Smith at the plate and Mauer sprinted home for a 3-1 lead. Polanco reached third on the same play, but Shields struck out Byron Buxton to end the threat.

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White Sox starting pitcher James Shields (33) reacts after a strike out against the Minnesota Twins during the first inning at Guaranteed Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

Leury Garcia launched a towering solo home run to right -- his ninth homer of the season -- to trim the deficit to 3-2 with one out in the White Sox sixth.

Twins left-hander Taylor Rogers entered in relief in the eighth and gave up back-to-back doubles, including a run-scoring two-base hit by Yoan Moncada that drove in Garcia for a 3-3 tie with one out.

"He got the first out, got 0-2 on the next guy, but 0-2 doubles hurt," Molitor said. "Then we got ahead of Moncada there, but he got enough for it to get down the line."

Santana struck out five of the first eight batters he faced and didn't give up a hit until Alen Hanson's two-out triple down the right field line in the third inning. The White Sox left fielder then scored on a throwing error by Polanco.

Shields, meanwhile, retired 11 straight batters and struck out four while no balls left the infield.

That sequence ended when Polanco made up for his earlier mistake and lined a 1-1 pitch to right for his seventh homer of the season. The two-out shot forced a 1-1 tie and marked the fourth consecutive game he hit a home run.

NOTES: The Twins called up RHP John Curtis from Triple-A Rochester and designated RHP Tim Melville (0-1) for assignment. ... Minnesota RHP Jose Berrios (11-5, 3.99 ERA) opposes White Sox LHP Derek Holland (6-13, 6.07) on Thursday in the finale of the five-game series. The series is tied 2-2. ... Chicago sent 3B Matt Davidson to Triple-A Charlotte on an rehab assignment. He went on the disabled list Aug. 8 (retroactive to Aug. 4) with a right wrist contusion. ... Chicago's Alen Hanson played left field Wednesday. He also has played right and center field, second and third base, shortstop and served as designated hitter this season. ... The teams meet for the final time this season Aug. 29-31 at Target Field in Minneapolis.

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