Dunning pitches White Sox past Twins for 6th straight win

CHICAGO (AP) — Dane Dunning pitched seven effective innings, Luis Robert had a key two-run single and the Chicago White Sox strengthened their hold on the AL Central by topping the Minnesota Twins 6-2 on Tuesday night.

Dunning (2-0) permitted one earned run and three hits in by far the biggest of his five major league starts. Looking poised and confident, the 25-year-old right-hander struck out seven and walked two in the longest outing of his career.

Tim Anderson and James McCann homered as Chicago (32-16) posted its sixth straight win and moved three games ahead of second-place Minnesota, which won the AL Central last year. The AL-best White Sox also moved 16 games over .500 for the first time since they were 71-55 on Aug. 26, 2012.

Byron Buxton hit his third career inside-the-park homer for Minnesota, but the Twins finished with just four hits. Randy Dobnak (6-4) allowed four runs and eight hits over 4 1/3 innings in his second straight loss.

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli and designated hitter Nelson Cruz were ejected by plate umpire Will Little after Ryan Jeffers took a called third strike for the final out of the seventh. It was third career ejection for both.

Buxton showed off his breathtaking speed in the third, tying it at 1 when he raced around the bases for his ninth homer. Buxton's drive to deep center caromed off the wall after Robert tried to make a leaping catch, and Buxton scored easily with a stylish headfirst slide.

Buxton and the Twins thought he had an inside-the-park homer in the ninth inning of Monday's 3-1 loss, but it was changed to a ground-rule double after a replay review led to a ruling that his liner to left was lodged at the bottom of the wall.

This time, Buxton got to keep his first inside-the-park homer since Aug. 18, 2017. But the...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Dunning-pitches-White-Sox-past-Twins-for-6th-15570442.php