Chi. White Sox 2, Minnesota 1
When: 8:10 PM ET, Friday, April 14, 2017
Where: Target Field, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Temperature:
57°
Umpires:
Home -
Adam Hamari, 1B -
Bill Miller, 2B -
Kerwin Danley, 3B -
Todd Tichenor
Attendance:
18466
By The Sports Xchange
MINNEAPOLIS -- The cheering and excitement coming from the Chicago White Sox visitors' clubhouse could be heard outside of the closed doors.
Chicago was enjoying every bit of Friday's 2-1 win against the host Minnesota Twins, and relishing in successful major-league debuts of two teammates.
Matt Davidson hit an opposite-field home run in the seventh inning to provide the winning margin and rookie starter Dylan Covey was steady in his major league debut. Outfielder Willy Garcia added a double in his first major league at-bat after being recalled earlier in the day.
"It's exciting to see a player get their debut; for all of us, the coaching staff and even teammates," White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. "It's exciting when they see their teammates breaking into the big leagues and getting an opportunity and contributing in some way."
Covey, a Rule 5 pickup from Oakland in the offseason, went 5 1/3 innings and allowed one run and five hits. He walked three batters.
"I was excited," Covey said. "I was nervous. Thankful we got the win. Some jitters in the first inning but was able to calm down after that and throw as many strikes as I could, and let the defense work behind me, which they did."
Left-hander Dan Jennings (1-0) came in to get the victory in relief as Chicago won its third straight game. David Robertson picked up his second save in as many chances.
Avisail Garcia had two hits for the White Sox for his second straight multi-hit game and fifth of the season. Davidson homered for the second straight game. His third home run in seven games came against Twins reliever Ryan Pressly (0-1).
"I'm just enjoying every single day," Davidson said of the chance for regular playing time. "It definitely helps when you get a little rhythm going. I'm just preparing the same way. If I'm not playing, if I'm DHing or if I'm playing third, so I'm just going to do the same thing every day and enjoy it."
Covey debuted in a meeting of young pitchers as Minnesota's Adalberto Mejia was making his third career appearance and second start. The two youngsters surprisingly matched up in a pitcher's duel on a cool, rainy night. The game was delayed for 35 minutes at the start because of rain.
Mejia improved upon his shaky first start by pitching five innings with four hits allowed and three walks. He struck out four after lasting just 1 2/3 innings in a start at Chicago last week.
"I felt better," Mejia said through a translator. "I felt more comfortable. I let the past be the past and was more prepared this start. I think the important thing is I was more confident."
Mejia was in control early and the Twins took the lead in the bottom of the second inning as Jason Castro's groundout scored Max Kepler, who doubled and reached third on a passed ball.
"Missed opportunities early a little bit," Minnesota manager Paul Molitor said. "We had that guy, first start, we put a little pressure on him, but we couldn't push a lot across early. We had some good hitter's counts along the way. We rolled over a lot of balls tonight. I give him credit for hanging in there."
Chicago answered in its next at-bat as Jose Abreu's fielder's choice scored Leury Garcia.
NOTES: The game marked the first time in major league history in which a team started all three outfielders with the last name, according to the Elias Sports Bureau Willy Garcia was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte before the game and made his major-league debut in left field, joining Leury Garcia in center field and Avisail Garcia in right field for the White Sox. ... Willy Garcia was called up with OF Melky Cabrera going on the paternity leave list. ... Minnesota 2B Brian Dozier stole his fifth base of the season. Dozier had 18 all of last season and didn't reach five until June 15. ... Todd Frazier returned to Chicago's lineup at DH after missing two games with flu-like symptoms. ... The Twins will have RHP Ervin Santana (2-0, 0.69 ERA) on the mound for Saturday afternoon's game against White Sox LHP Jose Quintana (0-2, 6.17).
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
| Chi. White Sox |
|
Minnesota |
|
Dylan Covey
|
Player |
Adalberto Mejia
|
|
No Decision |
W/L |
No Decision |
|
5.1 |
IP |
5.0 |
|
1 |
Strikeouts |
4 |
|
5 |
Hits |
4 |
|
1.69 |
ERA |
1.80 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
| Chi. White Sox
|
7 |
1 |
12 |
.226 |
12 |
6 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
| Minnesota
|
6 |
0 |
9 |
.194 |
14 |
4 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
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