MINNEAPOLIS _ The White Sox got solid pitching performances from two of their young cornerstones during a twin bill Tuesday at Target Field.
They squandered Reynaldo Lopez's gem in a 4-2 loss to the Twins but won the nightcap 6-3 behind Lucas Giolito to split the doubleheader.
Lopez allowed two or fewer earned runs for the ninth time in 12 starts this season. In nine of those outings he ended up with a loss or no decision.
In this case it was the latter, even though Lopez allowed one hit in seven shutout innings.
It all fell apart in the eighth, when Nate Jones allowed an RBI single to Miguel Sano and a three-run home run to Eduardo Escobar.
"Win or lose, that's something that I can't control," Lopez said. "As a team you always want to win. Losses are never easy to digest. But it's a game and you have to be ready for whatever the outcome is."
It was all Sox until that point, starting with Yoan Moncada's third leadoff home run of the season.
Jose Abreu drove in Moncada in the fifth to provide the other Sox run and bump his major-league lead in doubles to 22.
In the night game, the Sox jumped on Twins starter Zach Littell early.
Abreu launched a two-run shot on the first pitch he saw. Kevan Smith hit an RBI single in his first at-bat since he was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte, and Adam Engel's RBI double made it 4-0 before the Twins batted.
Giolito's rough spot came in the third, when he walked the first two batters and loaded the bases with a single. Miguel Sano's double-play grounder scored one run, and Escobar's double brought home another.
Yolmer Sanchez's two-run double in the fourth pushed the Sox's advantage back to four at 6-2.
The Twins added a run in the eighth inning when Sox reliever Bruce Rondon came in to try to bail out Jace Fry, who put two on base. Rondon struck out Sano and gave up an RBI double to Escobar. The former Sox infielder's third double of the day pushed him past Abreu for the MLB lead, 23-22.
Two more relievers, Luis Avilan and Joakim Soria, were required to get out of the inning nursing a 6-3 lead that would hold up.
Even then it was drama till the end for the Sox. Soria retired the first two batters but hit Brian Dozier, who reached third on Robbie Grossman's single. But Soria got Eddie Rosario to ground out to earn the save, his fifth.
