Thompson's walk-off home run lifts Chicago White Sox to win

It's just more than a month into the season and Trayce Thompson already is playing for his fourth team.

Accurately describing the dizzying stretch that has taken him from the Dodgers to the Yankees to the Athletics to the White Sox as "crazy," Thompson regained some of his sanity in Thursday night's 6-5 victory over the Twins at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Trailing 5-1 early and with a fifth straight loss looking very likely, the Sox rallied back to tie Minnesota while setting the stage for Thompson.

On a 3-1 pitch from former minor-league teammate Addison Reed with two outs in the ninth inning, Thompson launched a 403-foot home run to left field to give the White Sox the win.

A standup player with the Sox before he was traded to the Dodgers following the 2015 season, Thompson is still the same and not blaming anyone but himself for his tumultuous recent ride.

"I feel like the quality of my at-bats isn't there right now," he said. "Obviously, that last at-bat was good, but I've had too many inconsistent days and I've got to be better. I witnessed that with the (Dodgers) last year, being with a National League champion team, witnessing the quality of at-bat each day and what it takes to be a Division I player."

Still only 27 and seemingly recovered from a two-year run of back injuries, Thompson is trying to apply what he learned in Los Angeles.

"Even though he's been in the big leagues, he's still trying to find out who he is," said White Sox manager Rick Renteria.

Making his sixth start of the season for the Sox, Reynaldo Lopez came in with a 1.78 ERA, the fifth lowest in the American League. The 24-year-old rigthy also was averaging just 2.08 runs per start, the fourth-lowest offensive backing in baseball.

Lopez had a rough start against Minnesota, giving up 5 runs (4 earned) on 6 hits and 2 walks in 6⅔ innings, but at least he got some run support.

"I think I learned today that you're going to have your bad days," Lopez said through a translator. "I couldn't find my stuff. In those bad days you can get frustrated, but you have to keep grinding and learning because those days serve like a learning experiences."