Max Kepler (left) of the Minnesota Twins slides at home plate to score against Seby Zavala of the Chicago White Sox on July 4, 2022 in Chicago. Photo: AFP
Luis Arraez had three hits, Alex Kirilloff had two hits and two RBIs and Byron Buxton smacked a two-run home run to lift the visiting Minnesota Twins to a 6-3 victory in 10 innings against the Chicago White Sox on Monday.
Along with his offensive heroics, Buxton contributed a game-saving catch that led to a triple play in the Chicago seventh. The play wound up as the first 8-5 (right fielder to third baseman) triple play in major league history.
Minnesota won for the third time in four games while improving to 4-0 against the White Sox this season. The Twins blew the game open with a four-run 10th, as Kirilloff punctuated the rally with a two-run single.
Jhoan Duran worked around A.J. Pollock's run-scoring single in the 10th to preserve the victory. Emilio Pagan (3-3) navigated around a walk in a scoreless ninth to get the win.
Joe Kelly (0-2) took the loss, allowing four runs, three earned, and two hits in two-thirds of an inning with two walks and one strikeout.
Minnesota right-hander Dylan Bundy pitched five strong innings, scattering one run on three hits with one walk and six strikeouts.
Chicago opened the scoring in the second, as Jose Abreu smacked an opposite-field solo home run into the right field bleachers.
With the blast, Abreu extended his hitting streak to nine games while ending an 18-game drought without a home run. Abreu and Seby Zavala each had two hits for Chicago.
Buxton's two-run home run in the fifth put the Twins ahead 2-1 and marked the sixth straight game against Chicago in which he has homered.
Yoan Moncada tied the score with hit an RBI single in the seventh, leaving runners at first and second with no outs.
Pollock drilled a shot to the gap in right center field. Buxton snagged the ball near the warning track, then threw to the infield, where third baseman Gio Urshela retired Adam Engel and Moncada, who initially weren't aware the ball was caught and hadn't tagged up.
White Sox righty Johnny Cueto limited Minnesota to two runs on five hits in six innings. Cueto scattered five walks and three strikeouts but again proved susceptible to the long ball, allowing at least one home run for the third successive start.
Chicago manager Tony La Russa was ejected in the top of the 10th inning for arguing balls and strikes.
Also on Monday, Dansby Swanson's bases-clearing double sparked a five-run outburst in the second inning and Atlanta hung on to beat visiting St. Louis. The game was delayed two hours and 37 minutes after the fourth inning because of rain.
Darren O'Day (2-2) pitched a scoreless relief inning for the win. Will Smith got out of a base-loaded jam in the ninth and earned his fifth save.
Juan Yepez and Conner Capel homered for the Cardinals. Dakota Hudson (6-5) gave up six runs in four innings.
Elsewhere, Trayce Thompson hit a three-run homer and Julio Urias tossed six solid innings as Los Angeles opened a three-game series against visiting Colorado with a victory.
Urias (7-6) allowed one run on five hits with one walk and seven strikeouts while throwing a season-high 99 pitches. Los Angeles recorded its 50th victory this season and has won five of its past six games.
Jose Iglesias and C.J. Cron homered for the Rockies, who had won four of their previous first six meetings against the Dodgers this season.
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