The White Sox set their season high in runs and in margin of victory Monday with a 12-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins, ending a six game losing streak and giving rookie Erik Johnson (1-2) his first career win.
“It was good for the lineup to have a night like this with a lot of guys swinging the bats,” manager Robin Ventura said. “If we need dogs to show up every night, we’ll go ahead and make that happen.”
He referred to the 960 canines in the stands attending as part of the annual Dog Day promotion.
Because the dogs were there, no fireworks were allowed during the four homers hit by the Sox from Adam Dunn (32nd), Dayan Viciedo (13th), Jordan Danks (4th) and Alexei Ramirez (5th), who was a triple short of the cycle in getting four hits.
Dunn and Viciedo went back to back in the fourth, the third time the Sox have done so this season, and all three against the Twins.
Johnson worked six innings giving up four hits and striking out eight. But he almost didn’t get out of the first, putting men on base with walks and throwing a wild pitch after a throwing error by second baseman Gordon Beckham. But he struck out the last two batters to end the threat.
The Sox then sent 12 men to the plate in the first, scoring seven runs–matching their season high for an innings–and chasing Twins starter Liam Hendricks (1-3) after only two outs.
“It’s definitely one to remember,” Johnson said. “It’s one under your belt, so now you can take a deep breath and go back to work. It’s nice to have that run support in the first inning.
“I think for me it was getting that zero in the top of the first [against the Twins]. That kind of set the rhythm for me,” said Johnson, who was christened with a beer shower from his teammates after the game.
Johnson is the third Sox rookie to get his first win this season, joining Andre Rienzo and Jacob Petricka.
“I think there’s some great opportunities for some guys,” he said of the future. “A lot of guys who got brought up here have shown they go right at [hitters]. It’s going to be exciting.”
