 allowed 10 hits and two runs in 5 1/3 innings, with both runs scoring among Minnesota's first three batters of the game.Nova improved to 5-0 with a 0.85 ERA in his last six starts. Alex Colome worked a rocky ninth for his 24th save in 25 chances.''This was one of the best games I pitched the whole year,'' Nova said. ''Guys might say, `Why?' The way that I was throwing the first two innings it felt like I didn't have my best stuff. I was able to get to the sixth and only give up two runs. They got 10 hits, and to be able to keep them to two runs with a lineup like this it's a lot of hard work.'' Abreu connected for his 27th homer, driving a Gibson offering deep to the second deck above the bullpens in left-center field.Jorge Polanco hit his 18th homer for Minnesota, which leads the league with 241 homers and has an extra-base hit in 79 straight games, the fourth-longest streak in team history.Gibson (11-6) surrendered five runs in 6 2/3 innings.Eddie Rosario hit an RBI single in the ninth, but Colome struck out Miguel Sano with two runners on to end the game.''I didn't see anything wrong with the at bats we took tonight,'' Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. ''Sometimes you put them on and don't bring them in when you need to. It's tough, it's frustrating. But I thought the quality of the at-bats were good.'' SURPRISE, SURPRISEChicago got a run in the seventh when Tim Anderson scored on Yolmer Sanchez's suicide squeeze on an 0-2 count.''We gambled, it worked, we tacked on the run, and it was pretty exciting,'' White Sox manager Rick Renteria said.MISSED OPPORTUNITYThe Twins couldn't continue their momentum against distant third-place Chicago, which Minnesota had beaten 11 of the previous 14 meetings. Starting Monday, the Twins' next 13 games are against the White Sox and Detroit Tigers.''We're trying to approach it the same every day,'' Gibson said. ''If we win and we beat the teams we're supposed to beat, we feel pretty good about our chances. We're two games up and we're in control of whatever happens. We've got to come out and play well, and give ourselves a chance by playing solid games. We feel pretty confident how it's going to shake out.'' SQUIRREL!During Cruz's at-bat in the first inning, a squirrel ran onto the field near Cruz before running into the Minnesota dugout, sending several players and coaches scurrying away. Sano ran out of the dugout to get out of the way before the squirrel disappeared.TRAINER'S ROOMWhite Sox: 3B Yoan Moncada was scheduled to play nine innings in the field for Triple-A Charlotte on Monday. It would be Moncada's first full game in the field since going on the injured list with a right hamstring strain on Aug. 1. The plan is for Moncada to play nine innings again Tuesday with a potential return to Chicago's lineup on Thursday.Twins: Cruz was reinstated from the injured list after the minimum 10-day absence and he will play through the ruptured tendon in his wrist. Cruz has reported being pain-free. ... OF Max Kepler was out of the starting lineup after leaving Sunday's game due to heat exhaustion. Baldelli said Kepler was available. ... OF Byron Buxton (left shoulder subluxation) has taken light swings and reported no issues. Buxton played catch on the field before Monday's game and has hit off a tee and soft toss.UP NEXTWhite Sox: RHP Reynaldo Lopez (7-10, 5.29 ERA) will start Tuesday evening, looking to keep his strong run intact. Lopez owns a 2.91 ERA (14 earned runs in 43 1/3 innings) in seven starts since the All-Star break.Twins: RHP Michael Pineda (8-5, 4.20 ERA) will make his second start since coming off the injured list after being sidelined by a right triceps strain. Pineda gave up three runs in five innings last week against Texas.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Twins hope to stay hot against White SoxFLMRight-hander Kyle Gibson gets the start Monday night as the Minnesota Twins open a six-game homestand against the Chicago White Sox at Target Field in Minneapolis.The Twins finished a productive 5-1 road trip to Milwaukee and Texas with the team's first-ever four-game sweep of the Rangers in Arlington. Jorge Polanco's three-run triple with two outs in the eighth inning snapped a 3-3 tie and was the difference in a 6-3 victory in Sunday afternoon's finale.Minnesota was a half-game behind the Cleveland Indians in the American League Central when they began the trip in Milwaukee on Tuesday but returns home with a 2 1/2-game edge."Happy flight," reliever Sergio Romo said with a smile after earning his sixth hold with a scoreless inning of relief.Romo, who earned three World Series rings as a member of the San Francisco Giants, was asked what a successful road trip could do for a Twins team trying to garner its first AL Central title since 2010."It's huge," Romo said. "It helps us keep pace with the teams we're contending with. It helps us keep pace with the standings. At the same time, it keeps us motivated. It keeps us animated. It keeps us energetic. It keeps us full of passion. It's hard not to feel that at this point of the season." Four of the games on the trip weren't decided until the final pitch -- with the Twins winning three of them. Taylor Rogers got Rougned Odor to strike out to end Sunday's victory with runners at first and second."I've been spreading the word around to the guys, 'If you've noticed it or not, we're already playing playoff baseball,'" Romo said. "If we're able to finish this off and get (into the playoffs), I think we're going to be well-prepared based on the types of games that we're playing now." Minnesota now plays three games against the rebuilding White Sox, who are way out of the division race but will start one of the league's hottest pitchers in Monday night's opener.Right-hander Ivan Nova (8-9, 4.51 ERA) has won four of his last five starts and comes in off a 4-1 complete-game victory over the Houston Astros on Tuesday. He allowed just four hits and an unearned run while striking out three.In his last two starts, Nova is 2-0 and has allowed nine hits, three walks and an unearned run over 17 innings.Nova is 3-2 with a 3.45 ERA in six career appearances and five starts against Minnesota. He is 1-1 this season and allowed two hits and an unearned run in six innings in a 5-1 victory on July 27 in his last start against the Twins.Gibson (11-5, 4.28) is 9-4 with a 2.74 ERA in 16 career starts against the White Sox. He is 2-0 in two starts this season including a 11-1 win on July 28 in Chicago when he allowed one run on seven hits while striking out nine in six innings.Chicago comes into the contest after dropping three of four games against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, Calif., including a 9-2 loss in Sunday afternoon's finale. Highly-touted rookie right-hander Dylan Cease (2-6) suffered the loss after allowing five runs on seven hits in five-plus innings, including a three-run homer to Matt Thaiss and a solo shot to Kole Calhoun. He has allowed 10 homers in 44 innings."He's been leaving pitches out over the plate a little bit more consistently," Chicago manager Rick Renteria told MLB.com. "And this is the big leagues. Most of these guys are going to be able to consistently get the barrel to the baseball. It doesn't matter how hard you throw." --Field Level Media
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