Twins drop opener vs. White Sox on walk-off

May 4th, 2018

CHICAGO -- The road has not been kind to the Twins this year, and it was again the case against the White Sox on Thursday night.
Minnesota's rough stretch continued, as the club couldn't hold a four-run lead and served up a walk-off solo homer to in a 6-5 loss to the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field. It extended the Twins' losing streak on the road to eight games and they have already lost five games on walk-offs this season, including four since April 20. Their last road win came nearly a month ago on April 4.
"Add it to the list of ones that have been tough to swallow," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "You try to begin to find a way to dig yourself out of the hole that we've created and you get a lead like that, you want to win those games. We just didn't do enough."
Reed, facing his original team, got two quick outs in the ninth, but fell behind Thompson, 3-1, and Thompson connected on the game-winner on a fastball that caught too much of the zone. It was the 12th loss over the last 14 games for the Twins, who fell to 10-17 on the season.

"It wasn't where I wanted to throw it -- just trying to stay on the outer third, and it tailed back in to the inner third," Reed said. "You've got to forget about it, that's the bottom line. There is absolutely nothing you can do to change the outcome of what just happened. We've got to come in here tomorrow and get ready to play another game."
paced the offense in a losing effort for the Twins, going 3-for-4 with a homer, a double and a single as he continues to try to shake off his early season slump. His hustle double in the third helped spark the Twins to a two-run inning with singling to move him to third. The Twins were helped by a pair of passed balls with Morrison scoring on one and Petit advancing to third and scoring on a sacrifice fly from .

In the fourth, brought home a run with an RBI double before scoring on Morrison's two-run homer off . It was the third homer of the year for Morrison. But the Twins couldn't hold that 5-1 lead in the fourth with the White Sox coming back to tie it against right-hander Jake Odorizzi, who went 5 1/3 innings allowing five runs (three earned) on six hits and two walks with eight strikeouts.
"I take pride in keeping a lead and to give it back twice, it's the most frustrated I've been," Odorizzi said. "You're supposed to keep the lead and I didn't do my job. The bullpen did its job today. So it falls squarely on my shoulders."
Former Twins prospect hit a two-run homer off Odorizzi on a first-pitch splitter in the fourth before the White Sox got another run back on an RBI single from in the fifth.
"I think the game kind of boiled down to one pitch, and it was the home run," Odorizzi said. "Anything less than a home run, we keep that momentum. We just took that lead."

Chicago tied it in the sixth with drawing a leadoff walk and scoring on a double from Matt Davidson to right that was misplayed by Robbie Grossman for a run-scoring error. It was the second unearned run charged to Odorizzi, who was also hurt by an error on a stolen base attempt in the second that led to the White Sox's first run.
"We gave them the first run, we didn't catch the ball," Molitor said. "[On the double], I don't know what percent the catch is on that ball but it had a lot of tail on it. Kind of reached one way and it was coming back over. It's one of those things where you can't look to where you're going to throw it until you pick it up."
SOUND SMART
Odorizzi has struggled with first pitches this year, as opposing batters are hitting .429 with four homers and two doubles against him on his first offering.
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
Rosario made a great leaping catch up against the left-field wall to rob of extra bases in the seventh off reliever . Engel hit it hard, as it had an exit velocity of 100.5 mph, per Statcast™, but it had a high launch angle of 40 degrees, giving Rosario plenty of time to get to the fence and make the grab.

HE SAID IT
"This is where you've got to really have a short-term memory. If you start pressing, that's when things are going to start going downhill. And honestly, there's nobody in this room that has shown any sort of panic, nobody's pressing, everybody is still going out there, and things will turn around. -- Reed
UP NEXT
Right-hander (2-3, 3.63 ERA) will look to get back on track when he faces the White Sox in the second game of the four-game set on Friday at 7:10 p.m. CT at Guaranteed Rate Field. Berrios has allowed nine runs over seven innings in his last two starts, allowing at least one run in each of his last seven frames. But Berrios threw seven scoreless innings with 11 strikeouts against Chicago on April 12. The White Sox counter with right-hander (2-1, 4.32 ERA).