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MINNEAPOLIS — Gavin Sheets turned one way and then the other before losing his footing and falling while trying to catch Ryan Jeffers’ fly to right field in the fourth inning.
Jeffers reached on a triple and scored when Andrew Vaughn bobbled Michael A. Taylor’s check-swing grounder to first, eliminating any opportunity for a double play or a throw to the plate.
The Chicago White Sox didn’t have the sharpest series defensively. While they weren’t charged with an error Wednesday, those moments were costly in a 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins in front of 17,658 at Target Field.
“It was unfortunate,” Sheets said. “(Sox starter Lucas Giolito) had been jamming guys all day. Threw the ball extremely well. I thought (Jeffers) got jammed a little better, (I) took a hard step in and kind of got turned around with the ball fading into the wind. I feel terrible in that situation, especially with the way Gio is throwing the ball.
“It’s frustrating. It’s not that hard of a play. Just took a wrong step in, two wrong steps in, got turned around and it turned into a triple. It’s not a good feeling, but you move on and go on to the next game and try to pick this team up in a different way.”
The Sox dropped two of three in the series. They pitched well but didn’t get enough big hits, a reversal from when they allowed 44 runs in losing three of four against the San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates.
“I’m looking forward to watching both sides of the ball come together, which we are certainly capable of and we will,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “We just didn’t hit this series.”
And the defense, which had been solid entering the series, had some lapses.
The Sox won 4-3 on Monday despite making three errors. They also lost shortstop Tim Anderson for two to four weeks to a knee injury at the end of a botched rundown.
A throwing error by third baseman Hanser Alberto on Taylor’s bunt in the 10th inning was the final play of Tuesday’s 4-3 loss as pinch runner Willi Castro scored from second.
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“I feel bad for Gio and this team,” Sheets said of his misplay Wednesday. “That cost us a run in a game that they have Sonny Gray throwing the ball really well. Unfortunate.”
Giolito allowed one run on five hits with seven strikeouts and two walks in six innings.
“He was in control,” Grifol said. “He had good mound presence. He was pounding the strike zone. He had a really good mix of pitches. He was just attacking, which was really good to see. He had a good pace, rhythm.”
Giolito struck out the side in the second and worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the third.
The fourth began with Jeffers’ triple. A scary moment happened with one out when Kyle Farmer got hit in the face with a pitch. He exited with what the Twins called a jaw injury.
“It’s something that obviously I feel very, very bad about,” Giolito said. “Never want to hit anyone up there.
“It will rattle you in the moment, but you have to do what you can to regain focus in the situation, continue to make good pitches, get out of the situation. And maintain that focus throughout the rest of the game. Obviously hoping that Farmer’s OK.”
Edouard Julien walked, loading the bases for Taylor. He hit a chopper to first after checking his swing, and Vaughn fielded it near the bag. He had only the play at first after the bobble, and Jeffers scored.
“Frustrating in the moment, but those things happen playing this game,” Giolito said. “A lot of different factors, sun balls and things like that — that kind of stuff can happen. It’s all about flushing what just happened and moving on to the next pitch and staying focused in the moment.”
The Twins added two runs in the eighth with Castro and Taylor collecting RBIs.
Lenyn Sosa homered in the ninth for the Sox, who are 0-3-1 in series this season and currently without Eloy Jiménez and Yoán Moncada in addition to Anderson.
“Unfortunately we’re banged up a little bit,” Giolito said. “It’s not what we wanted, but it’s the hand we were dealt. So we have to deal with that, have guys stepping up. I’m seeing it. (Reliever) Keynan (Middleton), Sosa big home run there in the ninth inning gave us some life. Looking forward to guys stepping up and producing while some of our big guys are down.
“It’s the nature of the game, man. Not all things are going to be firing on all cylinders at the same time.”
