White Sox win on 3 hits -- all by Benintendi, who beats up on Twins again
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MINNEAPOLIS – Andrew Benintendi might not circle the White Sox two annual road trips to Minnesota on his schedule. But it’s a safe bet he knows when he’ll be paying a visit to his own personal offensive playground.
Benintendi continued his Target Field dominance on Saturday, going 3-for-4 with a home run, a double, two runs scored and two RBIs as the White Sox beat the Twins, 3-2.
Saturday’s game was the 90th for Benintendi in his career against the Twins. He’s now slashing .322/.385/.540 with 18 home runs and 59 RBIs in 339 at-bats against Minnesota.
His numbers are even more explosive in 46 career games at Target Field: .351/.407/.632 with 14 homers and 40 RBIs.
“I always like hitting here – I don't know why,” Benintendi said. “I just see the ball well here.”
Even though the White Sox were held to just three hits – all by Benintendi – they held on to push their record to 72-63, representing a high-water mark for the season at nine games over .500.
On Saturday, Benintendi played an integral role in all three White Sox runs. For the second straight day, he singled home a run in the first inning to give Chicago a 1-0 lead. He also hit a leadoff double and came around to score in the fourth, and he hit a tiebreaking home run off reliever Andrew Morris (4-7) in the sixth.
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“He knows what he's doing up there, and he has a plan and he executes it,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “I think that's what you get with a really good hitter, but also a guy that has experience. He understands what the pitcher on the mound is trying to do to him, and he has a solution for it.”
Take the home run. Benintendi had never faced Morris, but his scouting report told him to expect “a guy who throws really hard with some hard offspeed.”
Benintendi fell behind 0-2, fouling off a 98.4 mph four-seamer and swinging through a 98 mph sinker. Then came the big pitch in the at-bat, a 92.7 mph cutter that Benintendi fouled off. After taking a ball in the dirt, Benintendi saw that cutter again, and this time he lifted it off his shoetops and dropped it into the right-center-field seats.
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“I felt like I saw it the first time, and then I was able to scoop it,” Benintendi said. “I thought it was a good pitch, to be honest.”
Seeing Benintendi do that was nothing unusual to his teammates or his manager.
“I think for Benny, it's about his experience. It's about his understanding of his own strengths,” Venable said. “He's been on the field in every type of situation there is. He's faced a lot of these pitchers, and even if it's somebody that he hasn't faced here, he understands how to go up there with a plan that works for him and he’s able to execute it.”
When asked about his veteran teammate, Sean Newcomb – who pitched three scoreless innings in relief of Erick Fedde – referred to Benintendi as a “professional.”
“Just a steady presence, just a true professional, all the way around,” Newcomb said. “You know, just kind of does everything you ask, never seems to worry about anything, really. He hates when you pick him for Player of the Game, things like that. But he’s been huge for us. He’s a huge guy to have around.”