It started well for Logan Darnell. It really did. He sent down the White Sox 1-2-3 in the first and struck out the first two batters he saw in the second, but then scoring happened. And it was the epitome of what would happen all night: some good results mixed with too much of the plate and some hard hits.
Only two of Chicago's runs came off of a fastball - Tyler Flowers' second inning single, and Gordon Beckham's sac fly in the sixth. Everything else came off of a breaking balls. Each of which managed to float right down the middle of the plate. He started the sixth, down 4-0, but four straight Sox got hits, and Darnell was done. He struck out seven and didn't give out any walks, but he was charged with all seven runs in five (plus).
The Twins' offense wasn't up to the challenge of Chris Sale. It's ridiculous just watching the highlights. I feel like if I had actually watched the game, I'd have been embarrassed. He struck out 12 and walked two in eight innings, allowing just five hits and, quite obviously, no runs. Trevor Plouffe managed a pair of hits and both Josh Willingham and Kurt Suzuki singled and walked, but that's the end of what was good last night. Right there. That's it. I promise.
With Anthony Swarzak and Samuel Deduno unavaialble for long relief, Ryan Pressly stepped in and performed admirably. Pressly allowed just one hit in three innings. So...positives. Silver linings.
Notes
- Danny Santana, leading off, was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
- Brian Dozier: the same, but with two strikeouts
- Cleanup hitter Chris Colabello had the same line as his second baseman.
- *Headdesk*