The Chicago White Sox kept chipping away.
They entered the eighth inning trailing the Minnesota Twins by four runs. A bases-loaded walk to Miguel Vargas and RBI singles from Kyle Teel and Lenyn Sosa brought the team within one run.
Colson Montgomery came up with the bases still loaded and one out. He worked a full count against reliever Justin Topa and then hit a popup in foul territory down the left-field line. Twins third baseman Royce Lewis made a catch, turned and fired home to throw out Vargas at the plate for an inning-ending double play.
“It was on me,” Vargas said. “I thought I had a good shot and then I didn’t.”
The Twins tacked on a run in the ninth and held on to top the Sox 9-7 in front of 22,372 at Rate Field.
Miscommunication might have been a factor in the double play to end the eighth.
“Aggressive play,” manager Will Venable said. “If we were able to take that back, we would obviously. There was potentially some miscommunication after talking to (third-base coach Justin Jirschele) about it.
“He took responsibility for that. For me, got to clean that up. It’s a big spot. Just didn’t work out for us.”
Vargas held himself accountable.
“It’s on me 100%,” Vargas said. “It wasn’t the play for me to go and score, especially when we have Luis (Robert Jr.) behind (as the next hitter). I take all the responsibility.”
Photos: Chicago White Sox lose to Minnesota Twins 9-7 at Rate Field
With the loss, the Sox (45-83) are a season-worst 38 games under .500.
“Got Topa on the ropes there, hate to give them that out,” Venable said. “I understand the aggressive mindset. But we’ve got bases loaded, Topa on the ropes with one of our better hitters up. Tough one.
“One of these days where between mistakes on the bases and some walks, just got to do a better job. At the same time, really proud of the guys for continuing to fight and battle and put ourselves in the position to have the go-ahead run on second late.”
It’s the third time in the last four games the Sox have scored at least seven runs. They won 13-9 on Monday in Atlanta and lost 11-10 on Tuesday to the Braves.
They suffered a 1-0 loss to the Braves on Wednesday but got back in an offensive groove during Friday’s series opener against the Twins. Five Sox players had two hits Friday, and the team finished with 12 hits and eight walks.
“Trusting the guy behind you, next to you has been the key for us,” said Vargas, who went 0-for-2 with three walks, one RBI and one run. “Attacking the fastball. We all think on the same page and it’s good.”
Montgomery had two hits, including a two-run home run, two runs and two RBIs. Lenyn Sosa went 2-for-5 with two RBIs. Robert, Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero also had two hits. Teel and Quero each had one RBI.
Minnesota Twins third baseman Royce Lewis flips his bat in the air after hitting a grand slam in the fourth inning of a game against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field in Chicago on Aug. 22, 2025. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
Lewis had a big night for the Twins. In addition to making the strong throw to the plate, he went 3-for-5 with four RBIs. Those RBIs came via a grand slam in the fourth, which gave the Twins a 4-1 lead.
“Obviously I want that one pitch back, but even leading up to it I felt I was trying to be too precise, led to a couple of walks leading up to it,” Sox starter Aaron Civale said. “But in terms of where the cutter was (to Lewis), I thought it was away from him just enough, but it was just up enough for him to go out there and get it.
“To his credit, he’s a good hitter. He’s done really well with the bases loaded in his career. Think if it’s just down or up a little bit more we’re in a good spot and it’s a different story.”
Civale allowed four runs on five hits with five strikeouts and four walks in five innings. He did not factor in the decision.
Montgomery doubled and scored on a Quero single in the bottom of the fourth to bring the Sox within 4-2. The next inning, Montgomery hit the two-run blast to tie the score at 4.
“To see the offense come back and continue to fight and Colson picked me up specifically huge there and then continued to be aggressive and have good at-bats throughout the rest of the night and make it a competitive game at the end of the day, it’s a huge credit to the offense,” Civale said.
The Twins responded with two runs in sixth against reliever Brandon Eisert and two more in the seventh against Wikelman González to take an 8-4 lead.
The Sox fought back with the three in the eighth before the inning ended with the double play.
“Good player making a good play,” Venable said of Lewis’ throw. “Tip your cap to him.”
The Sox came up just short, and have lost seven of eight.
“We’re just fighting until the end,” Teel said. “You hate to see the outcome, but the boys did show a lot of fight. We’ve got to come out here and be better tomorrow.”
Originally Published: August 22, 2025 at 11:40 AM CDT