CHICAGO _ Ross Detwiler spent a portion of 2019 pitching for the York (Pa.) Revolution, an independent team in the Atlantic League.
Friday, he was on the mound for the White Sox, starting against the first-place Twins.
Detwiler came through, allowing two runs on six hits in five solid innings on the way to a 6-4 victory at Guaranteed Rate Field.
James McCann and Eloy Jimenez hit two-run homers as the Sox opened the three-game series on a strong note.
Detwiler, 33, joined the Sox from Triple-A Charlotte on Friday.
The Sox signed Detwiler on May 9 as a minor league free agent. He went 1-2 with a 3.98 ERA in eight starts at Charlotte and struck out 35 in 43 innings. He also went 0-0 with a 2.81 ERA in three starts for York.
Detwiler entered Friday 23-42 with a 4.36 ERA in 190 games (83 starts) during parts of 10 seasons in the majors. He has pitched for the Nationals (2007-14), Rangers (2015), Braves (2015), Indians (2016), A's (2016) and Mariners (2018). His last start before Friday was Sept. 18, 2016, for the A's against the Rangers.
"We believe he has experience and he knows what he's going to try and do," Sox manager Rick Renteria said before the game. "Like anybody we brought in, give him an opportunity, see if he can give us a few innings, maintain against a pretty good lineup on the other side, try to keep them in check.
"And then allow us what we need to do with our relief corps when we need to, to see if we can contain that offense and try to win a ballgame."
That's exactly how it played out.
McCann hit his two-run homer in the first to give the Sox a 2-0 lead. Miguel Sano tied the game with a two-run homer in the second.
The Sox regained the lead in the fifth, scoring twice. Jon Jay and Jose Abreu had RBI singles.
Jimenez hit his two-run homer to center in the eighth. The rookie slugger has 13 homers.
The Twins pulled within 6-4 on another two-run homer by Sano in the ninth. Closer Alex Colome entered and retired the final three batters for his 17th save in 18 chances.
