MINNEAPOLIS -- David Sandlin had an incredible Major League debut on Wednesday. On Monday night, he had his “Welcome to the big leagues” moment.
Facing the Twins for his second career start, Sandlin gave up eight runs on eight hits in four-plus innings as the White Sox dropped the opener of the three-game series at Target Field, 9-6.
“Just didn't do my job today,” said Sandlin (1-1). “The guys fought, battled their way back. Just didn’t execute, didn’t fill up the zone, and that's on me.”
Sandlin (Chicago’s No. 17 prospect) threw just 44 strikes on 80 pitches on Monday, and he had the most trouble getting ahead with his fastball. He also had to work from the stretch against 16 of the 23 batters he faced, thanks in large part to his four walks.
“The walks there put him in a tough spot,” manager Will Venable said. “There was a lot of traffic that he wasn’t able to work through. He got beat on some different pitches in the zone, and then he wasn't around the zone on some of the at-bats.”
In his first career start, Sandlin gave up a leadoff home run to Byron Buxton. But he then retired the next 18 batters he faced as the White Sox rolled to a 15-2 victory in Chicago.
It’s not often a pitcher can throw six innings without pitching from the stretch even once, and Sandlin didn’t expect his second start to be a repeat of his debut.
“Obviously we knew the outing last week wasn't going to happen every time.” Sandlin said. “And today's evidence of that. Just got to keep working on holding runners. I think the game sped up a little bit on me there.”
The Twins were impressed with Sandlin in his debut, but they also had five days to study video of that game in preparation for Monday.
“You can talk about numbers, you can talk about video, until you step in the box,” Twins manager Derek Shelton said pregame. “He had a really good debut. Buck clipped him to start and then he was really good after that. The fact that our guys have seen him is definitely an advantage for us.”
Sandlin gave up a run in the first as the Twins strung together three singles, but then he had a relatively quiet second and third inning.
Sandlin almost wiggled out of a jam in the fourth, but he blamed his own mental lapse for contributing to the Twins’ four-run inning. Josh Bell led off with a double and moved to third on Trevor Larnach’s single. When Austin Martin hit a comebacker, Sandlin fielded it, held Bell at third and threw to second in time to retire Larnach for the first out.
Victor Caratini followed with a chopper up the middle. Shortstop Colson Montgomery fielded it and threw home to retire Bell. But Sandlin walked Luke Keaschall on four pitches to load the bases, then fell behind Tristan Gray with a first-pitch ball. His next pitch was a curveball that hung just a bit, and Gray belted it into the right-field seats for his second grand slam of the season to give the Twins a 5-1 lead.
“Should have turned the double play. Would have been out of that inning, the home run doesn't happen,” Sandlin said. “That's on me again. ... It's a learning experience. Can't sit here and beat myself up for no reason. I’ve just got to get back to work and be ready for the next outing.”
The Sox offense got three runs back immediately when Miguel Vargas cranked a two-run homer into the bullpen and Andrew Benintendi followed with a rocket that reached the plaza behind the right-field seats.
But the rally was short-lived. The first three Twins reached base off Sandlin in the fifth -- two walks and a Bell single -- and that was the end of the road for the rookie. He was replaced by fellow rookie Tyler Davis, who allowed all three runners to score.
That left Sandlin with a less impressive line for his second career start -- eight runs allowed on eight hits with four walks and four strikeouts in four-plus innings.
“Whether it was that he was pitching in the stretch or whatever, he wasn't as effective in the zone as we saw him in his first outing,” Venable said. “And that's something that he'll go to work on. He was around the zone at points, and they did a good job of hitting a lot of different pitches too.”