White Sox clip Twins, clinch first playoff berth in 12 years

[September 18, 2020]  Eloy Jimenez broke a 3-3 tie with a two-out RBI double in the seventh inning as the Chicago White Sox clinched a playoff berth with a 4-3 victory over the visiting Minnesota Twins on Thursday afternoon.

Jose Abreu and Edwin Encarnacion each homered, leading the White Sox to their first playoff berth in 12 years.

Yasmani Grandal and Jarrod Dyson each added two hits for Chicago (33-17), which increased its American League Central Division lead to three games over the Twins.

Codi Heuer (3-0) picked up the win in relief, allowing no runs on two hits over 1 2/3 innings while striking out three. Alex Colome recorded the final four outs to notch his 12th save.

Byron Buxton continued his hot September with three more hits, including a pair of solo home runs, and Josh Donaldson was ejected after hitting the go-ahead home run in the sixth inning for Minnesota (31-21). Tyler Clippard (1-1) picked up the loss, allowing two runs in 2/3 of an inning.

Minnesota took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Buxton homered down the left field line.

The White Sox tied it two innings later when Abreu's 17th homer of the season, a 400-foot drive to left-center, went over the glove of Buxton for his major-league leading 50th RBI. Abreu became the first player since 2013 American League MVP Miguel Cabrera of Detroit (57) to reach 50 RBIs in his first 50 games.

Buxton then put the Twins back in front, 2-1, in the fifth with his second homer of the game and 12th of the season, a 420-foot drive deep into the bleachers in left. It marked the third multi-homer game of Buxton's career and was his seventh home run over a nine-game stretch.

White Sox celebrate after defeating the Minnesota Twins at Guaranteed Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

Encarnacion tied it leading off the bottom of the fifth with his ninth homer of the year.

The Twins then regained the lead in the top of the sixth on Donaldson's fifth home run of the season, one pitch after getting into an argument with home plate umpire Dan Bellino over a strike. A still-angry Donaldson kicked dirt on home plate as he crossed it, then went back and kicked more on the plate after being ejected by Bellino.

The White Sox then took a 4-3 lead in the seventh when Dyson led off with a single, stole second, advanced to third on a groundout by Tim Anderson and, after a walk to Grandal, scored on Abreu's slow roller into the hole at short. Jimenez then drove in pinch-runner Yolmer Sanchez with a line double down the left field line for the game-winning RBI.

--Field Level Media

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