Twins lose series opener to White Sox on soggy night at Target Field

The first two Twins to bat on Friday reached base. Then there were two doubles in the second inning. The home team had leadoff hitters reach base in each of the first three innings.

The Twins had one run to show for it. One.

And that allowed an untested White Sox pitcher to wiggle his way into the middle innings. And it allowed Matt Davidson's late-inning homer to help Chicago edge the Twins 2-1 in the first of a three-game series at Target Field. The game was delayed 35 minutes by rain, which continued during the game.

That 2-1 score didn't work well in the Twin Cities on Friday. But the number of runs matched the number of Garcias in the White Sox lineup. The White Sox starting outfield was Willy Garcia in left, Leury Garcia in center and Avisail Garcia in right. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the first time in major league history that three players with the same last name started in the same outfield.

Reliever Dan Jennings got the win for the White Sox, but it was Dylan Covey — a Rule 5 pick by Chicago in December — who gave up just one earned run over 5 ⅓ innings. Fresh meat was on the mound against a Twins offense that lacked bite.

"We had that guy in his first start," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "We put a little pressure on him, but we couldn't push a lot across early. We had some hitter's counts early. We rolled over a lot of balls tonight. I give him credit for hanging in there."

Twins lefthander Adalberto Mejia was a little better in his second outing, holding the White Sox to one run over five innings on four hits and three walks with four strikeouts. Last Saturday in Chicago, he was pulled in the second inning after throwing 40 pitches but getting only two outs

Despite Molitor's lineup construction, destruction and reconstruction, the Twins have not found a nine that can consistently generate offense. A few were on point Friday. Brian Dozier was 2-for-3 with a stolen base but was thrown out trying to stretch a double into a triple in the fifth on a very close play.

"It looked to me like the replay was inconclusive," Molitor said.

Jorge Polanco was 2-for-3. Miguel Sano drew two walks. But a few other hitters are searching for their swings.

The Twins were set up for a fast start in the first when Dozier singled and stole second and Robbie Grossman followed with a walk. But Joe Mauer tapped into a double play, the start of his 0-for-4 night that dropped his average to .188.

"He's centered up a fair amount of balls that haven't ended up in hits," Molitor said. "We all know he hits into the defense a lot. That's one of the problems with good at-bats that don't get hits."

Dozier led off the third with a walk, and that was followed by three consecutive fielder's choices. The Twins stranded seven runners on base Friday and were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. One hit early could have made a difference.

"It might have changed the complexion a little bit," Molitor said. "I'm sure [Covey] gained confidence every time he went back out there with the score tied."