It took them nearly five hours to finish it
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Max Kepler drew a two-out walk with the bases loaded in the 13th inning for the Twins, who outlasted the White Sox 2-1 on Thursday afternoon for just their second victory in the last seven games.
The Twins pushed across the go-ahead run after Logan Morrison doubled off left fielder Charlie Tilson’s glove. Hector Santiago (2-3), the sixth White Sox reliever, intentionally walked Ehire Adrianza before walking Jake Cave and Kepler.
”That was a good one to win, for sure, not only because we lost the first two but it was a marathon,” Morrison said.
The Twins salvaged the third game of the series against the White Sox and now move on to play three more contests in Chicago against the crosstown Cubs at Wrigley Field starting on Friday afternoon.
Alan Busenitz (2-0), the sixth reliever for Minnesota, pitched 1 2/3 innings for the victory.
The Twins were one out from winning in the ninth inning, but closer Fernando Rodney walked pinch-hitter Daniel Palka, a former Twins farmhand, on four pitches to force in a run. Rodney quickly retired the first two hitters
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Rodney took his fourth blown save in 21 chances this season, ending a streak of 15 consecutive conversions.
”I told him postgame, `That’s a heck of a run,”’ manager Paul Molitor said. ”Today it was a two-out bloop and a change-up that he lost command of. Then he started scrambling a bit.”
Morrison hit his ninth home run deep to right to lead off the seventh for the first run of the game. The drive was just Minnesota’s second hit off White Sox starter Lucas Giolito, who didn’t allow any hits until Eddie Rosario lined a double off first baseman Jose Abreu’s glove with one out in the sixth.
Twins starter Jake Odorizzi tossed six shutout innings in his best outing in more than a month, allowing three hits and striking out eight. The righty, who was 0-3 with an 8.77 ERA in his last six turns, said he’s been ”making adjustments from start to start.” The White Sox hardly threatened to score when he was on the mound.
WALKS IN THE PARK
Giolito recovered after walking the bases loaded in the first for his lowest-scoring outing this season. The 6-foot-6 righty, who lowered his ERA from 7.01 to 6.59, allowed one run on four hits and four walks in 6 1/3 innings. He has issued the most walks in the AL with 51.
Giolito escaped the first without allowing a run despite throwing just 11 of his first 26 pitches for strikes. Then he retired 13 straight Twins betters.
”I honestly didn’t have my rhythm until the last batter of the” first inning, Giolito said. ”I did a pretty good job of filling the strike zone after that first inning. They put a lot of balls in play
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NO WORRIES
Giolito said he was ”kind of” paying attention to his no-hit bid when it reached the sixth inning. ”I probably would have been more aware of it if I had taken it to the seventh or eighth,” he said.
BOOTED FOR BAD WORDS
Anderson, Chicago’s shortstop, was ejected for the second time in his career in the 11th inning when he argued with umpire Gerry Davis after being caught stealing second. ”I kind of said some bad words,” Anderson said.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Twins: RF Taylor Motter hit the wall hard trying to catch Yoan Moncada’s double in the sixth and will be re-evaluated for chest soreness. Motter stayed down on the warning track for a couple of minutes while being tended to by a team athletic trainer, but he remained in the game until Kepler pinch hit for him in the seventh. … SS Jorge Polanco, almost done with an 80-game suspension for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug, was scheduled to DH in one game and play SS in the other in a doubleheader for Triple-A Rochester on Thursday. He can be reinstated on July 5.
White Sox: Sanchez left the game with a bruised left quadriceps in the 13th after tripping on first base when he ran out a grounder. He’s day-to-day. … Manager Rick Renteria said OF Nicky Delmonico (broken right middle finger) will start swinging a bat soon, but he isn’t close to beginning a rehab assignment.
UP NEXT
Twins: Ace RHP Jose Berrios (8-5, 3.15) takes the mound against LHP Mike Montgomery (2-2, 3.39) when the Twins meet the Cubs on Friday. Berrios has won his last three decisions over five starts in June and has a 2.10 ERA during the span.
White Sox: RHP Dylan Covey (3-2, 3.45) faces RHP Yovani Gallardo when Chicago opens a three-game series at Texas on Friday. Covey left in the fifth inning of his previous start last Saturday with a right hip flexor strain
Authentic Martin Kaut Jersey , but after throwing a bullpen session on Tuesday he said he felt fine.
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The NBA playoffs never go according to plan. The Golden State Warriors are proof of that.
Again.
They have been the league’s best team over the last four seasons, without question. But even the great teams need injury luck on their side, as has been evident in each of their playoff runs over that span.
Enter Chris Paul and Andre Iguodala this year.
In 2015, Golden State didn’t have to face injured Cleveland stars Kyrie Irving or Kevin Love in the NBA Finals and won the title.
A year later, the Warriors blew a 3-1 finals lead against the Cavs because the series turned in Game 5 – not because Draymond Green was suspended (the often-offered and incorrect narrative), but because Andrew Bogut got clumsily taken out by J.R. Smith and the Warriors had no one left to defend the rim from LeBron James’ constant onslaughts.
Last year, Kawhi Leonard came down on Zaza Pachulia’s foot in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, San Antonio’s big lead was gone in an instant and the Warriors steamrolled the rest of the way to another title.
Injuries taketh away. Injuries giveth.
The reigning NBA champions are on the brink of elimination, down 3-2 in the West finals in large part because Iguodala’s knee has prevented him from playing in the last two games – both of them close losses to the Houston Rockets, outcomes that may have been different if he was on the floor.
But now those Rockets have lost Paul to a hamstring strain. Officially, Paul is out for Game 6 against the Warriors on Saturday. Realistically, the perennial All-Star is probably out for a lot longer.
Series lead
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Advantage, it sure seems like Golden State.
”Injuries happen,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Friday. ”And you’ve just got to play with whoever’s out there.”
It’s amazing to consider that the Warriors have four All-Stars – Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and Green – and yet they’re one loss from summer right now because a 34-year-old Iguodala hasn’t been on the floor. Make no mistake, his absence has crushed the Warriors and especially so in late-game situations.
Golden State was awful offensively in the fourth quarter of Game 4 and lost. The Warriors then got ripped for Quinn Cook taking a wide-open 3-pointer and missing with about a minute left in the Game 5 loss at Houston. Green’s many social-media critics reveled in how he dropped a pass and booted the ball off his leg in the final seconds for a turnover that cost Golden State a chance to tie or win the game.
If Iguodala was there, he’d have been involved in those plays.
”He’s one of our keys, and we’ve missed him the last two games,” Kerr said.
Iguodala might be able to get through it and play on Saturday night. Paul won’t; in fact, it seems logical to fear that his season may be over regardless of how far the Rockets go.
Hamstrings don’t heal in a day or two. Playing through an ankle sprain or broken finger, that’s noble at this time of year. Hamstrings don’t allow for such displays of toughness. Running, jumping
Billy Price Color Rush Jersey , cutting, they’re simply not possible. Paul could barely stand after getting hurt Thursday. Anyone envision him running by Monday?
Probably not.
This has been the NBA season of injuries. Gordon Hayward’s season was over after five minutes on opening night and the Boston Celtics had to reinvent themselves. The Celtics had to do so again when they lost Irving to knee surgery late in the regular season. It took time; the Celtics nearly were knocked out in the first round before finding their stride again.
The Warriors, they’re running out of time. The Rockets, they don’t have time to waste either. Without Paul this season, they’re an exceptional 61-12. Without him, they’re 15-9 – still good, but hardly great.
Even with a 3-2 lead, the Rockets probably need one more great game to end Golden State’s reign.
”We’ve been here before,” Kerr said.
The Warriors aren’t acting like worriers. They’ve learned how to roll with the punches at playoff time, no matter how much they hurt.
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Tim Reynolds is a national basketball writer for The Associated Press. Write to him at treynolds(at)ap.org
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