CHICAGO _ It was a moment that happened with young and precocious Twins players through the years. They would turn a routine play into a teaching moment, and pay the price.
The Twins tied the game in the third inning on Saturday because immensely-talented White Sox third baseman Yoan Moncada lazily went after a pop up down the left-field line and missed the catch. Byron Buxton, already shifted into fifth gear scored. And Chicago manager Rick Renteria had a few words for Moncada after the inning was over.
That ended up being the worst thing that could have happened to the Twins.
Moncada played like man possessed, hitting a home run and smacking two doubles to ignite Chicago to a 5-1 win over the Twins at Guaranteed Rate Field.
The more talented and experienced Twins could not square up a pitch against right-hander Ivan Nova, and struggled with Chicago's bullpen after that. So on a night in which they swung a deal for veteran right-hander Sergio Romo, the Twins' lead shrank to one game over Cleveland in the AL central. The Twins have held sole possession of first place in the division since April 27.
After the one-way conversation with Renteria, Moncada led off the third with a double, advanced to third on a single and scored on a sacrifice fly by Wellington Castillo as Chicago took a 2-1 lead.
Twins left-hander Martin Perez retired seven consecutive White Sox batters until Moncada batted in the fifth and crushed a 432-foot home run to center, giving the White Sox a 3-1 lead.
Nova broke out of a slump with a complete-game victory over Miami in his last outing and carried the momentum into his start on Saturday, He featured a sinking fastball but mixed in cut fastballs and changeups as well to keep the Twins at bay. He retired nine of the last 10 Twins batters he faced and handed a 3-1 lead to the bullpen.
Perez gave up three runs on seven hits and one walk with four strikeouts. The White Sox took it to the Twins bullpen too, scoring a run off Cody Stashak in the seventh and an unearned run off of Trevor May in the eighth.
