Garrett Crochet walks four but pitches four innings of one-run ball vs. Twins

MINNEAPOLIS — It probably grates the competitor in him, but this is how it will be for the rest of the season. And All-Star lefty Garrett Crochet knows a limited workload is best for his career.

Pitching four innings and throwing 73 pitches in his first start since a trade deadline that passed him by without a deal, Crochet exited the White Sox' game against the Twins Saturday at Target Field with his team, trying to stop a mammouth 18-game losing streak, tied at 1.

"We're slowly but surely lowering his work capacity and managing his workload," manager Pedro Grifol said of Crochet, adding to his long-surpassed career high for innings long ago. "But it all depends on how he feels, so we'll play it by ear."

Crochet walked a career high four batters and struck out two but managed to get hurt only by Ryan Jeffers' 356-foot homer with two out in the second. Crochet touched 99.9 mph with his four-seamer, so there are no signs of weakening, but the game's outcome was left to a Sox bullpen that was 0-11 with a 6.73 ERA in its last 26 games and 28 blown saves this season.

The Twins scored two in the eighth on Willi Castro's two-run single, capping a 13-pitch at-bat against John Brebbia, for a 5-2 lead.

"It's been pretty challenging," manager Pedro Grifol said of planning for bullpen use Just because when you have restrictions on two [also Davis Martin] of the five starters and you're covering four or five innings a day, it's a little taxing to the guys out there."

Korey Lee broke up Bailey Ober's flirtation with a no-hitter with an RBI triple in the fifth and shortstop Brooks Baldwin hit his first career homer in the sixth, tying the game at 2. Max Kepler homered against Touki Toussaint, who took over for Crochet, to make it 3-2 in the seventh.

Wilson-Grifol exchange, revisited

Right-hander Steven Wilson said his clumsy handoff to Grifol when the manager took the ball from him in a rough eighth inning of Friday’s 10-2 loss was as Grifol described it after the game. Grifol turned around to Wilson as the pitcher walked off.

Wilson was not happy, and understandably so, after giving up five runs in 2/3 of an inning.

“He came and asked me right after if everything was good,” Wilson said. “I said, ‘Yeah, my thumb was underneath your hand.’ If you watch the video you can see that.”

Wilson gave up a home run and also watched a fly ball fall between left fielder Andrew Benintendi and Luis Robert Jr. in left-center field for a two-run double as his ERA jumped from 3.86 to 5.83.

“It’s not fun,” Wilson said of the 17-game losing streak taken into Saturday. “Sure, the money and everything is great, but we’re here to win baseball games. I was on a winning team [with the Padres in 2022] and that was a lot of fun. But yeah, we have a lot of [s---] to figure out and a lot of stuff to work on so we can turn this thing around quick.”

This and that

Andrew Vaughn was under the weather, dealing with a sinus issue, and was a late scratch from the lineup. Gavin Sheets started at first base.

*The Sox will likely look to their minor league system for a starter Monday in Oakland, with Jonathan Cannon pitching Tuesday on six days rest and Davis Martin making his second start Wednesday.

*Right-hander Jimmy Lambert, who was working his way back from a right shoulder strain that sidelined him during spring training, was returned from his rehab assignment at the Arizona Complex League.