White Sox rally past Twins for first win of the season
It's safe to say the White Sox were feeling the pressure on Saturday after opening the season with four straight losses.
“I don't like it,” executive vice president Kenny Williams said before the Sox played the Twins at U.S. Cellular Field. “Listen, the expectation level is what it is, and we had guys sign up for this, come here for this particular reason, because they wanted that on themselves. They wanted to be in a winning situation.
“Well, we're here. Now we've got to execute and we've got to play up to those standards. And we simply have not. That's got to change.”
It did change, as the White Sox beat Minnesota 5-4 on pinch-hitter J.B. Shuck's RBI single in the eighth inning.
A crowd of 22,317 was groaning early as the Twins jumped on starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija with 4 runs in the second inning.
Making his first home start for the Sox, Samardzija settled down and pitched 7 innings, allowing 4 runs on 8 hits.
The White Sox' offense, which struggled through the first four games, came alive in the bottom of the second inning when Adam LaRoche led off with a home run against Minnesota starter Mike Pelfrey.
Avisail Garcia followed with a double and came home on Conor Gillaspie's single.
Garcia's infield single in the third inning scored Melky Cabrera to make it 4-3.
Catcher Geovany Soto tied it at 4 with a solo home run in the fourth.
Check back later for more details.