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Sports

A never-seen triple play, Tony La Russa’s ejection and a 4-run 10th doom Chicago White Sox as they drop opener vs. Minnesota Twins

On a night when the Minnesota Twins pulled off the first 8-5 triple play in major-league history and manager Tony La Russa earned his first ejection of the season, the Chicago White Sox fell 6-3 in 10 innings before a raucous crowd of 32,483 on the South Side.The Twins pulled 5½ games ahead of the third-place Sox in the first of seven crucial games before the All-Star break between the American League Central rivals.AdvertisementThe Twins scored four runs off Joe Kelly in the 10th, sending most of the crowd to the exits.“Our goal is to win,” Sox first baseman José Abreu said. “If we win, we’re going to be in a good spot. That’s our purpose. That’s what we try to accomplish every day. If we do that at the end of this stretch, we’ll be in a good position. If not, we’ll assess and see where we are after that.”AdvertisementThe Sox took a quick lead when Abreu homered off Dylan Bundy in the second. Johnny Cueto was in command until giving up a double to Luis Arraez and a two-run homer to Byron Buxton on back-to-back pitches in the fifth.After Abreu doubled against Griffin Jax leading off the seventh, Yoán Moncada’s single tied the game at 2-2, setting up one of the craziest triple plays you’ll ever see.[ [Don’t miss] Column: Could White Sox be sellers at the trade deadline? Next 2 weeks vs. AL Central foes may tell the tale. ]AJ Pollock lined a shot to deep center, which Buxton caught on the run near the wall. Both runners — Moncada and pinch runner Adam Engel — took off on the liner and had no chance of getting back to their bases. Buxton wheeled and threw to third baseman Gio Urshela, who tagged Moncada between second and third, then touched second to retire Engel for the 8-5 triple play.La Russa’s jaw literally dropped after watching the play unfold.“Never seen one like it,” he said. “Potential difference maker at that point. Yoán was really aggressive, which is not the worst thing you can do when you play this game. Judgment was wrong and costly.”White Sox third baseman Yoán Moncada is tagged out by Twins third baseman Gio Urshela for the second out of a triple play during the seventh inning Monday, July 4, 2022, at Guaranteed Rate Field. (Paul Beaty/AP)Engel said “everyone did the right thing but me” on the play.“I just made a bad read on it,” he said. “Obviously was watching (Buxton). He took his head off the ball to find the wall and when he looked toward the wall, I thought he was looking for the ball to get down and (I) made a bad play, made a mistake on it. And unfortunately cost us some runs right there most likely and probably would’ve gone on to win the game. It was tough. My mistake.”Engel absolved Moncada, saying he probably saw Engel take off early and just followed him.Advertisement“It was a big momentum shift in the game,” Engel said.It was the Twins’ first triple play since June 6, 2021, in Kansas City and the first triple play the Sox hit into since May 21, 2021, against the New York Yankees.La Russa employed closer Liam Hendriks, in his return from the injured list, in the eighth inning of a tie game. Hendriks struck out the side before Kendall Graveman pitched a scoreless ninth.“He was going to pitch once in the next two days,” La Russa said of using Hendriks early. “And we were all excited to get him out there in the eighth, gives you a great chance to win. It looked for a minute like there was going to be kind of a Hollywood ending. He was going to pitch and that was to me the time to use him. Get his inning in while we had a chance to win.”[ [Don’t miss] Liam Hendriks calls out gun laws after Highland Park shootings. ‘The access to the weaponry … totally needs to change,’ White Sox closer says. ]But there would be no Hollywood ending for the Sox, as Kelly imploded in the 10th.The Twins took the lead on Arraez’s hard single that went through Kelly, bringing home the ghost runner. La Russa was ejected for arguing a called ball, and though he was not in the dugout, the “Fire Tony” chant erupted after Kelly issued two walks to load the bases.AdvertisementJorge Polanco’s sacrifice fly made it 4-2 before Alex Kirilloff chased Kelly with a two-run single that broke the game open.“Ultimately it’s just pitching (bleep),” Kelly said. “I couldn’t locate pretty much any pitch.”The Twins are now 4-0 against the Sox and look like a team that doesn’t intend on letting them back into the race.“At any moment the coin can flip to our favor and we can start winning games against them,” Abreu said. “And that’s going to be our purpose (Tuesday), try to do our best and win our best and who knows? Maybe that will start a stretch of winning games against them.”

Sports

Seiya Suzuki’s inside-the-park homer highlights his return to the Chicago Cubs lineup, but they fall to the Milwaukee Brewers in 10 innings

MILWAUKEE — Seiya Suzuki sprinted around the bases at American Family Field.He planned to keep running until told otherwise.AdvertisementChicago Cubs third base coach Willie Harris did not hesitate, emphatically waving him home. Suzuki dodged the Milwaukee Brewers’ relay throw and tag attempt by catcher Victor Caratini as his hand swiped the plate while eluding Caratini’s mitt. The inside-the-park home run in the ninth inning Monday marked a thrilling return to the lineup for Suzuki, who was activated from the injured list before the 5-2, 10-inning loss to the Brewers.AdvertisementSuzuki had not played since suffering a sprained left ring finger May 26. So as he sprinted during the ninth, he had one thought.[ [Don’t miss] Column: Red Sox rookie’s 1-star review of Wrigley Field hits a nerve with the Cubs ]“Stop me,” Suzuki joked through interpreter Toy Matsushita. “My legs were getting pretty tired. I was getting ready for somebody to say, ‘Stop.’”The Cubs, however, wasted Suzuki’s hustle. They were on the verge of pulling out a late victory thanks to the go-ahead inside-the-park homer with one out in the ninth.Ahead 2-0 in the count against tough Brewers lefty Josh Hader, Suzuki sliced a 95 mph fastball off the left-center-field wall. The ball rocketed past center fielder Jonathan Davis, allowing Suzuki to scamper around the bases and put the Cubs ahead 2-1.Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki slides safely home with an inside-the-park home run during the ninth inning against the Brewers on Monday, July 4, 2022, in Milwaukee. (Morry Gash/AP)Chicago Tribune SportsWeekdaysA daily sports newsletter delivered to your inbox for your morning commute.It’s one of the most exciting and rarest offensive plays in baseball: Suzuki’s inside-the-park homer marked the Cubs’ first since Javier Báez on Aug. 7, 2017, and only their eighth since 2000. It was also only the second game in 28 appearances this season that Hader has given up a home run. The other two homers off Hader came in the same June 7 game.But Cubs reliever David Robertson couldn’t lock down the bottom of the ninth. He struck out three but was hurt by two hits, a hit by pitch and a four-pitch, bases-loaded walk to Christian Yelich to bring home the tying run. Robertson struck out Wily Adames to force extra innings, but the Cubs failed to take advantage of loading the bases in the 10th. Willson Contreras and Ian Happ struck out to strand the runners. Contreras came out of the game after his at-bat because of left hamstring tightness.[ [Don’t miss] Which Cubs players are likely to get traded? Here’s where things stand with the deadline 1 month away. ]Former Cubs catcher Caratini ended the game with a three-run homer against right-hander Scott Effross.AdvertisementLeft-hander Justin Steele delivered a standout performance that saw him tire near the end of his career-high 108 pitches. He held the Brewers hitless through four innings. They finally tallied a hit on Luis Urias’ well-placed grounder down the first-base line to lead off the fifth.Steele was one strike from finishing the seventh when the Brewers scored their lone run against him on Pedro Severino’s double that knotted the game at 1. Two walks by Steele sandwiched the tying hit.