MINNEAPOLIS — Andrew Benintendi batted in the ninth inning with runners on second and third, two outs and the Chicago White Sox down two runs to the Minnesota Twins.
Facing closer Jhoan Duran, Benintendi ripped a 101 mph fastball to right-center.
But instead of a game-tying extra-base hit, there was more heartache for the Sox when center fielder Byron Buxton made a tremendous diving catch.
It was another tough way to lose a game, as the Sox fell 4-2 in front of 11,828 on Tuesday at Target Field.
“He’s throwing 102 and a 99 mph splitter, so trying to get something up to hit,” Benintendi said of his approach. “And yeah, guy made a nice play.”
The Sox out-hit the Twins 10-5, but went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and made two costly errors while losing for the eighth time in their last nine games.
“A lot of good at-bats where we’re able to create some traffic,” manager Will Venable said. “We’ve just got to find a way to cash in. It’s as simple as that. Good, quality at-bats and we just need to keep it going.”
The Sox nearly did in the ninth.
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Entering the inning down 4-1, Lenyn Sosa reached on an infield hit. Duran walked Brooks Baldwin and Matt Thaiss, loading the bases with no outs.
Joshua Palacios struck out and Nick Maton bounced out to second. The grounder brought home a run and moved the other runners to second and third.
Benintendi was the last chance, and on the sixth pitch of the at-bat he put a great swing on the fastball.
“You know that Buxton’s an incredible outfielder,” Venable said. “I thought right away he had a beat on it and it was obviously a great play and close. But credit to Andrew for a great at-bat and credit to Buxton for making a great play.”
Benintendi also didn’t think it was going to fall.
“When I hit it, with the jump he got, I knew he was going to catch it, just the way he was tracking it,” Benintendi said. “And yeah, I thought he had it the whole way.”
Buxton told reporters covering the Twins: “I knew off the jump I had to get on my horses. The biggest thing is making sure I had a good line to the ball because the ball didn’t get up too high for me to run up under it.
“Being able to (have) the right instincts and make the first step was a big key to that.”
The Sox are 1-10 on the road this season and have lost 13 straight at Target Field going back to April 11, 2023.
Davis Martin was the tough-luck losing pitcher on Tuesday, allowing two runs (zero earned) on three hits with three strikeouts and three walks in five innings.
“It was good, we pitched out of some jams,” Martin said of the outing. “All in all, walked too many people. Put ourselves in a bad situation. Got to limit the walks.”
Venable said Martin kept the Twins off-balance throughout the night.
“You look at it really, bad defense and a bad call by the umpire, can attribute that to the two runs there,” Venable said. “But otherwise, he was in control the whole time.”
The Sox led 1-0 in the second when Martin got Carlos Correa to hit a grounder to first. Andrew Vaughn threw to second, attempting to cut down the lead runner Trevor Larnach — who had walked to begin the inning.
Sosa couldn’t handle the throw to second, and the ball deflected off his glove. Larnach wound up at third on the sequence, with Sosa being charged with the error.
Ty France knocked in Larnach with a single to tie the score.
Larnach was on the move again an inning later, hitting a tapper that died in the grass in front of home plate.
Sox catcher Edgar Quero fielded and fired to first. But the throw hit Larnach.
Instead of a third out in the third inning, Larnach was safe at first while Luke Keaschall raced around from second and scored to give the Twins the lead.
Venable had a conversation with home plate umpire Brian O’Nora.
Venable was told: “Just that he wasn’t in the grass, which was wrong. He was in the grass. I don’t need to see a replay to know that.”
Larnach hit a two-run home run against reliever Mike Vasil in the eighth inning, stretching Minnesota’s lead to 4-1.
The Sox were in a position to rally in the ninth. But Buxton made sure they didn’t complete a comeback with his catch.
“You’re facing (Duran) in the ninth down three, it’s easy to kind of fold and say we’ll get them tomorrow,” Benintendi said, “but put ourselves in a position to tie it up and just didn’t get it done.”
