CHICAGO _ The Twins' feared flaws hadn't erupted in the first four games of 2017, but that doesn't mean they disappeared entirely. Now, only the winning streak has.
Adelberto Mejia lasted only eight batters in his first career major league start, and Miguel Sano committed his first two errors of the season on Saturday, bringing a halt to Minnesota's winning week. The White Sox took advantage of the mistakes early on, clubbed a couple of homers later, and handed the Twins their first loss of the season, 6-2.
The game was played in a sneaky-strong and swirling wind, which made for a sloppy day defensively. Jorge Polanco was credited with a double on a high popup that landed just a few feet beyond the infield dirt, and the Twins futilely chased a popup next to the White Sox dugout, all wind-blown hijinks. But those weren't the only mistakes.
The biggest gaffe turned a White Sox brain cramp into a run. In the second inning, Avisail Garcia, after pounding a triple off Mejia, was caught breaking for the plate in an apparent failed squeeze play. But rather than force the runner toward third base, Sano ran him toward the plate, waited too long to shovel the ball back to catcher Jason Castro, and bounced his toss off Garcia's shoulder, allowing Garcia to cross the plate safely.
That was the worst moment of a rough inning for Mejia, who won the job as Twins' fifth starter with a consistent, trouble-free spring. He allowed a run in the first inning on a leadoff double by Tyler Saladino on an 0-2 pitch, and a pair of groundouts to move him up. The second inning opened with a 14-pitch at-bat by Chicago third baseman Todd Frazier, who fouled off eight straight 3-2 pitches before walking. It was the most pitches thrown by a Twins pitcher to a single batter since 2015.
Garcia followed it with a seven-pitch at-bat that resulted in a triple just out of Byron Buxton's reach in center, scoring Frazier. Then Garcia scored on Sano's error, but Mejia seemed to settle down by getting a couple of popup outs. But he walked Jacob May and hit Saladino on the hands, and manager Paul Molitor pulled him.
Justin Haley did a good job of calming the game _ until he didn't. Haley retired 10 of the first 12 hitters he faced, and one reached on Sano's second error, a grounder that bounced off his glove. But Frazier singled in the sixth, and Garcia _ who finished just a double shy of the cycle _ blasted a long home run that bounced off the back wall behind the center-field fence. Geovany Soto blasted Haley's next pitch into the left-field seats, and the Twins' streak was doomed.
Minnesota's only runs came after Polanco's popup double, when Castro slugged his first home run as a Twin into the seats in deep left-center.
