Grandal Hits 2 Of White Sox 6 HRs To Rip Twins 13-3
CHICAGO (AP) — Yasmani Grandal hit a three-run shot and a towering two-run drive, and the Chicago White Sox went deep six times to pound the Minnesota Twins 13-3 Wednesday night.
Rookie Andrew Vaughn smacked a two-run homer and had three RBIs. Gavin Sheets hit his first career home run in his second game as Chicago won its third straight.
José Abreu and Brian Goodwin added solo shots to help first-place Chicago expand its lead over Cleveland in the AL Central.
Dylan Cease (7-3) cruised to his fourth victory in five starts, allowing three hits and striking out seven in six innings. Josh Donaldson and Nelson Cruz connected for solo homers off the 25-year-old right-hander.
Gilberto Celestino added a solo shot in the eighth.
Abreu's homer was just the second for the slumping 2020 AL MVP in 26 games. Sheets, who made his major league debut Tuesday, also had a single and is 4 for 8 with four RBIs so far.
Twins rookie Bailey Ober (0-1) lasted just 3 1/3 innings in his sixth career start, allowing five runs on four hits, including three homers.
Donaldson homered in the first inning for a second straight day. He was booed loudly during his first two plate appearances after touching off a war of words with White Sox ace Lucas Giolito on Tuesday.
Donaldson appeared to yell "not sticky anymore" after a two-run drive off Giolito on Tuesday in Chicago's 7-6 win and suggested that Giolito had benefitted from the use of foreign substances prior to Major League Baseball's crackdown last week.
On Wednesday, Donaldson smacked a 1-1 pitch deep to left for a solo shot and early 1-0 Twins lead. The crowd of 16,803 chanted profanely at Donladson as he trotted quickly around the bases — then directly and silently to the dugout.
Giolito and Donaldson met after Tuesday's game. Donaldson claimed on Wednesday that Giolito was among "like 150 guys" on a list of pitchers he suspected had been using illicit grip enhancers to generate more spin on their pitches.
Goodwin and Vaughn homered in the second to give Chicago a 3-1 lead. Abreu went deep in the third, and Vaughn's sac fly in the fourth made it 5-1.
Grandal's first homer got the White Sox rolling during a six-run fifth that put the game away. Twins center fielder Nick Gordon leaped at the wall and had the ball in his glove, but it rolled out and over the fence.
Tim Anderson singled in a run, and Sheets went deep to right-center to make it 11-1.
After Cruz homered in the sixth, Grandal blasted his second homer in the bottom half.
FACE-TO-FACE
Giolito called Donaldson an "(expletive) pest" Tuesday night and said the home run celebration was a "classless move." He called on Donaldson to talk to him face-to-face, and the two met as the teams left Guaranteed Rate Field on Tuesday.
Giolito didn't speak to media on Wednesday, but Donaldson had plenty to say.
Donaldson said he was calling out to his dugout and not Giolito after his homer Tuesday. He said he was trying to fire up the Twins, who have languished near the bottom of the AL Central.
Donaldson said Giolito's reaction "speaks more about the looming question that's going on, which is, was he using sticky stuff before all of this happened in the first place?"
TRAINER'S ROOM
White Sox: Reinstated RHP Michael Kopech from the 10-day IL (left hamstring). ... Placed LHP Aaron Bummer (strained right hamstring) on the 10-day IL retroactive to June 28 and RHP Evan Marshall on the 10-day IL (strained right flexor pronator). To fill the bullpen spot, the White Sox recalled LHP Jace Fry from Triple-A Charlotte.
UP NEXT
Minnesota RHP José Berríos (7-2, 3.41) takes the mound against Chicago LHP Carlos Rodón (6-3, 2.06) in the series finale Thursday afternoon.
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