CHICAGO – The Laborious Lance Lynn was back Tuesday night, running into deep counts and pitching with more runners on base than he cared for. But there were moments when he showed he can be a strike-throwing machine.
One such moment came in the fifth inning, when went through the No. 2, 3, and 4 hitters in the White Sox lineup with only nine pitches, setting himself for at least a solid six-inning outing.
He went out for that inning with just one walk and eight strikeouts, that last one the 1,000th of his career. Lynn had a two-run lead and was eyeing his sixth victory.
But Lynn quickly fell apart in the sixth ... and it had little to do with pitching. The White Sox took advantage to score three runs, and they added on from there for a 8-4 victory in the rain-delayed opener of the Twins' nine-game road trip to Chicago and Milwaukee.
Matt Davidson led off the sixth inning with a first-pitch tapper to Lynn's left. The burly righthander went to scoop the ball up, but he overran it. He then reached back for the ball and slipped on the wet grass.
On Lynn's next pitch, Leury Garcia followed with a bouncer up the middle, a double-play ball. But Lynn reached for the ball and deflected it — to the area where Brian Dozier had vacated to cover the bag.
Kevan Smith followed on Lynn's final pitch of the night with a single to left to load the bases. Twins manager Paul Molitor replaced Ryan Pressly to put out the fire, but he walked Tim Anderson to force in a run and make it 4-3.
Pressly followed by striking out Adam Engel for the first out. Lefthander Taylor Rogers entered and retired Yoan Moncada — a switch hitter batting .154 against lefties — to pop out, and it looked as though the Twins might escape the inning with the lead.
