Bullpen implodes as Sox fall to 2-1
It looks like the White Sox have some offense this year.
After finishing last in the American League with 598 runs scored in 2013, the addition of Jose Abreu has already made a big difference.
The Sox have scored 21 runs in their first three games, and Abreu has 5 hits in his first 12 at-bats, including an RBI double and bases-loaded triple against the Twins on Thursday. On Wednesday, Abreu drew 2 intentional walks.
"I'm glad I won't see him for a while," Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said. "The kid can really hit. We knew that coming in. We heard he was a really strong young man, and that's why we were pitching around him. No disrespect to Mr. (Adam) Dunn. The way the guy's getting the barrel to the ball, you just try to limit the damage when he comes up in a lot of situations because he seems like he's on.
"He hits pretty much everything. Even when he makes an out he seems like he gets the barrel to it. He's a strong young man. It looks like he really knows what he's doing hitting."
Add in Alejandro De Aza, who hit his third home run of the season Thursday, Dunn, who hit his second, and Adam Eaton at the top of the order, and you're looking at a potentially interesting season for the Sox.
On the other hand, former White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen used to always say you can't win in the American League without a good bullpen because the presence of the designated hitter means the starting pitcher has few, if any, breaks and that typically takes a toll by the sixth or seventh inning.
Powered by Abreu's 4-RBI game, Dunn's 2-run homer and solo shots from De Aza and Marcus Semien on Thursday, the Sox were able to overcome a 5-1 deficit and they held an 8-5 lead in the sixth inning after Abreu cleared the bases with a triple to center field.
But the bullpen failed to make the lead hold up, even after Semien's home run in the eighth inning put the White Sox in front 9-8.
New closer Matt Lindstrom couldn't protect the lead in the ninth and the Twins stormed back for a 10-9 win while avoiding a three-game sweep at U.S. Cellular Field.
With two outs, Lindstrom yielded a run-scoring single to Trevor Plouffe and an RBI triple to Oswaldo Arcia.
"Maybe I should have walked (Arcia) and taken a chance with the next guy (Josmil Pinto) instead of throwing a fastball over the middle, so it's one of those things I'll remember and take into the next game," Lindstrom said. "The biggest thing that I'm feeling right now is the guys battled so hard in the cold weather.
"We put up some runs on the board, we came back when we were down, guys putting together great at-bats, playing good defense, so it feels bad kind of letting the team down in that sense."
Nate Jones has been a major problem in the bullpen. For the second straight game, the right-hander failed to record an out, and he's allowed 4 total runs on 2 hits and 3 walks.
The Sox' bullpen has allowed 9 runs on 9 hits and 8 walks in 8⅔ innings over the past two games.
Jones missed the first three weeks of spring training with a strained glute muscle and he could be headed to the disabled list with the same ailment.
"It went away, but for some reason I felt it today," Jones said. "We're going to see how it feels tomorrow and go from there."
Getting the revamped bullpen fixed is the White Sox' primary concern in the early part of the season.
"If you look around the league, there's been a lot of stuff happening with bullpens so I'm not going to sit here and overreact to it," manager Robin Ventura said. "Would you like it to be better? Yeah, sure. But I'm going to give credit to the Twins. They battled and they're the ones that put up the runs. They had a good offensive plan today and they did well."