May 19, 2021 3 min read

Lucas Giolito gave up two hits over eight innings with a season-high 11 strikeouts, guiding the Chicago White Sox to a 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday.

Giolito (3-4) threw 111 pitches in his longest start of the year, another stride forward after a rough first month. The third-inning fastball that Nelson Cruz hit to center for his 10th home run accounted for Minnesota’s only runner past second base. Cruz also singled in the first.

Liam Hendricks pitched a perfect ninth for his ninth save in 11 chances, following a game-ending strikeout of Max Kepler with a shout and an arm pump to celebrate Chicago’s 20th win in its last 28 games.

Leury García hit a leadoff double against Matt Shoemaker (2-5) in the fifth inning and scored the tying run on an infield single by Adam Eaton. Then García gave the White Sox the lead with an RBI single in the sixth, zapping whatever spark the Twins were seeking from their 5-4 comeback win on Tuesday. Giolito faced the minimum batters from the fourth inning on.

American League

O’s Davis out for season: Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis will miss the rest of the season after surgery Wednesday to repair the labrum in his left hip.

The 35-year-old has not played since Baltimore’s spring training opener in February and will be sidelined for four-to-five months. General manager Mike Elias said Davis should be able to make a full return for spring training in 2022, the final season of Davis’ $161 million, seven-year contract.

Davis reported pain in his lower back and hip in spring training, when he took only two at-bats.

Davis was an All-Star and finished third in the AL MVP voting in 2013, when he led the league in home runs (53) and RBIs (138). Two years later, he hit another 47 homers.

Davis hit .168 in 2018 – the lowest for a player qualifying for the batting title – endured an 0-for-54 streak in 2019 and hit just .115 with no homers and one RBI over 55 at-bats last year while twice landing on the injured list with left knee ailments.

Yankees Torres returns:

New York Yankees shortstop Gleyber Torres was back in the starting lineup Wednesday night after being reinstated from the COVID-19 injured list.

Torres, who is fully vaccinated, missed six games after testing positive last week. He was cleared to return by Major League Baseball’s joint committee. Asymptomatic vaccinated people can be cleared if they test negative twice.

National League

San Diego 3, Colorado 0: Fernando Tatis Jr. homered and went 4 for 4 in his first game back after testing positive for COVID-19, and the San Diego Padres beat the Colorado Rockies 3-0 for a three-game sweep.

Tatis, who had been out since May 11, finished a triple shy of hitting for the cycle in helping the Padres win their sixth straight game and for the ninth time in 10 games. Tatis came up in the eighth and got his third extra-base hit of the game, an RBI double.

Jake Cronenworth had an inside-the-park home run and Joe Musgrove struck out 11 in seven innings.

Craig Stammen struck out the side in the eighth, and Mark Melancon finished the two-hitter with a perfect ninth for his major league-leading 15th save in as many chances.