The White Sox have had a sluggish start to the second half, coming into Saturday's game against the Twins with a 3-12 record after the All-Star break. But thanks to the pitching of Ivan Nova and the bullpen and the bat of Yoan Moncada, they avoided a fifth straight loss this week and beat the Twins, 5-1.
Much of Saturday's win hinged on how the team responded to an error on a tough flyball in the top of the third inning. The White Sox had scored in the bottom of the second on singles from Jose Rondon and Yolmer Sanchez and then a fielder's choice from the bat of Adam Engel, but a misplay in the next frame tied the game and looked at the time like a potential momentum shift in favor of the Twins.
Byron Buxton lead off the third for the Twins with a double, and then he scored when Moncada missed a Jorge Polanco fly ball just behind third base. With the game tied, White Sox manager Rick Renteria gathered his team in the dugout for a quick in-game meeting.
"Just talking to the guys. Making sure we were clear on how we're doing things," Renteria said after the game. "I think they know we're better than that. That's all it was. Just reminding them that we're better than that."
Moncada said that Renteria told them to just keep playing well.
"Do your job and enjoy the game. Don’t get frustrated," Moncada said.
The play, which Renteria stressed after the game was not an easy one, called for Moncada to track a high pop up from a slight defensive shift while being mindful of Buxton coming toward third base and then redirecting as the ball tailed back toward the outfield. An error in the box score, but a very tough play.
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"That's not an easy play. Not at all," Renteria said. "And so I think that everybody has to understand that, and our guys understand that. That's not an easy play. I think that when we talk to them, they understand that we have a certain level of effort that we want to give and a focus, and that's what we were talking about at the end of the inning."
From there, the White Sox scored four more runs, two of which were driven in by Moncada, one on a 432-foot, solo home run in the bottom of the fifth and then a double that scored Leury Garcia in the bottom of the seventh. He ended up going 3-for-4 on the night, and his home run came from the right side of the plate, something that has been a developmental milestone for Moncada this season, and something that Renteria said has made him much more effective and much tougher for opposing teams to deal with.
On the mound, Nova didn't let the third inning miscue rattle him. He threw a quality start, allowing just three Twins baserunners in six innings. Nova has pitched well in July, narrowly missing quality starts in his first two outings of the month and then beating Minnesota Saturday after throwing a complete game against the Marlins on Monday.
Renteria pulled Nova from Saturday's start at just 88 pitches despite how well he was pitching because he was still somewhat fatigued from going long in his previous start. Nova was willing to keep going, Renteria said, but understood the call.
"You're coming off throwing nine innings with 112 pitches, a lot of times you don't get enough time to recover," Nova said. "I did what I had to do, it was a good day."
Nova might be an appealing trade target come Wednesday's deadline, but he said it's not something he's thinking about.
"My focus is here. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen, but I cannot think about that," Nova said. "I want to stay here. The number one thing is I want to help the team to win games. If I get traded, OK, but it's nothing I'm anticipating nor asking for."
With the White Sox ten games below .500 and well out of reach for the division, it might make sense to deal Nova, but he has demonstrated his value to the team in his ability to eat innings and to mentor the younger starters, like he has with Reynaldo Lopez.
Beating the Twins dropped their lead in the division over Cleveland to just one game, and for Renteria, it also meant that his team is still playing the way he wants them to.
"I think these guys showed you they can chip away and do certain things to compete even against strong slugging clubs," Renteria said. "I think they showed everybody we're not going to lay down, we're going to continue to play."
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