Zach Stewart shines as Chicago White Sox defeat Minnesota Twins 4-0 – MLB Update
Zach Stewart had a brilliant performance as he delivered his first complete shut-out game as the Chicago White Sox beat Minnesota Twins 4-0 on September 5 at Target Field.
Things could not have gone well for the struggling Chicago White Sox. The club that suffered a humiliating defeat, the previous night, at the hands of the American League Central leaders, Detroit Tigers, came to Target Field to deliver an inspiring victory
in a double header against the Minnesota Twins. Zach Stewart delivered his first complete game and made history by shutting out the home team.
White Sox managed four runs in the game while Stewart managed to allow just one hit in the entire fixture. The young star retired 27 of his 28 batters without allowing a single hit. The stint for a no-hitter ended however when Danny Valencia managed to avail
a leadoff double in the eighth inning.
The second game of the day took place in the night after the White Sox cropped up a 2-1 win earlier in the afternoon, courtesy another brilliant performance from star pitcher, Philip Humber. Stewart followed up the act in the second fixture of the day. The
rookie hurler was confident in the bullpen, during his warm up session. He could tell it was his night.
"It was a lot of fun. It was just one of those things," Stewart said. "In the 'pen, the ball was coming out good. I could tell it was going to be somewhat of a good night. I didn't know it was going to be that good. But it just felt good from the beginning."
The White Sox kicked off the game with a run in the top of the second through Alex Rios, who got the nod from Juan Pierre’s single. Alex Ramirez then smashed a RBI ground ball towards the left-field for a single in the top of the fifth as Brent Lillibridge
scored from the play. Brent Morel then grounded a single towards the centre-fielder for a two-run RBI in the top of the seventh. Ramirez and Rios were the scorers.
Stewart earned the win through a magnificent performance. He gave one hit away and struck-out nine hitters in the process. His ERA average fell to 4.56.
White Sox catcher, Tyler Flowers had confidence in the rookie starter and he was optimistic all the while the game moved on to the later stage.
"I thought [a perfect game] was possible the way he was throwing the ball," said Tyler Flowers. "All day he had good sink. He was able to locate his off - speed pretty well. Just one pitch away, I guess."
The Twins have been on the end of the table for a while now and they seem unlikely to recover from their dip in form. One can only imagine what the management is going through at the moment.
Tags: