The Twins were no match for Chris Sale and the White Sox in Friday night's 6-0 loss, but for what it's worth, Manager Ron Gardenhire liked what he saw from Esmerling Vasquez.
Vasquez, 28, issued five walks for the second straight start, including three in a row in the fourth inning. After loading the bases, he walked Dayan Viciedo to force home Chicago's second run.
"Those are some close pitches that normally guys might chase with two strikes on them, but they were good enough to lay off them," Gardenhire said. "Fortunately for us, that didn't end his night. He made some pitches, got through it, and ended up going pretty deep in the game."
Vasquez left with the Twins trailing 2-0 in the sixth inning, and fell to 0-2 with a 7.53 ERA.
"That was way better than the last time, and improvement's what we're looking for," Gardenhire said. "So he took a step and got us deep into the game. Unfortunately, we were facing a really good pitcher tonight."
Sale is 3-0 with a 0.90 ERA in three starts against the Twins, and 17-6 overall.
