Twins homer four times in 11-1 win over White Sox

[July 29, 2019]    Jorge Polanco, Miguel Sano, Jonathan Schoop and Max Kepler each homered and Kyle Gibson gave up one run over six innings to pick up his 10th win as the visiting Minnesota Twins cruised to a 11-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday afternoon.

Twins shortstop Jorge Polanco (11) hits a two run home run against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning at Guaranteed Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

Sano finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored, Polanco and Nelson Cruz both had two hits and two RBIs, and Byron Buxton also had two hits as the Twins extended their American League Central lead to two games over the Cleveland Indians.

Gibson (10-4) gave up seven hits and a walk while striking out nine. He struck out the side in the sixth inning with the bases loaded and no outs following a Jon Jay RBI infield single.

Jay and Leury Garcia each had two hits for Chicago, which fell to 4-13 since the All-Star break.

Minnesota, limited to just three hits in a 5-1 loss to the White Sox on Saturday night, needed just 10 pitches against Chicago starter Dylan Covey (1-7) to top those numbers during a five-run first. Kepler doubled on the first pitch of the game and then scored three pitches later on Polanco's 16th homer of the season, a 411-foot drive to right-center.

Cruz and Luis Arraez then singled on back-to-back pitches and Sano followed with his 18th home run of the season, an opposite-field liner just inside the right field foul pole, to make it 5-0, chasing Covey after just 14 pitches.

After the game, the White Sox announced they optioned Covey to Triple-A Charlotte.

Covey's outing marked just the second time this season that a starting pitcher departed without registering an out. The other came on April 16 at Philadelphia when Steven Matz of the New York Mets left after allowing eight runs in a 14-3 loss.

Minnesota extended its lead to 7-0 in the fourth on a two-run double by Cruz and made it 9-0 in the fifth on Schoop's 16th homer of the season, a two-run shot to left.

After the White Sox cut it to 9-1 in the sixth on Jay's RBI single, Kepler hit a two-run home run in the eighth, his 28th of the season and a major-league leading 205th by the Twins, to make it 11-1.

First baseman AJ Reed made his major league pitching debut in the ninth for the White Sox and retired the Twins in order.

--Field Level Media

[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.