Tommy Milone’s 7 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball led the Minnesota Twins to their first win of the season – a 6-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Friday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Field.
Milone struck out seven and allowed just two hits on the afternoon. During one stretch he mowed down 16 White Sox hitters in a row.
It was by far the best effort from a Twins starter this season.
Milone originally was slated to be the Twins fifth starter after winning the job out of spring training, but Ervin Santana’s 80 game suspension forced Minnesota to bump Milone up into the four spot, and add Mike Pelfrey as the fifth starter.
After going 24 innings before scoring a run in their season-opening series against Detroit, the Twins wasted little time putting a run on the boar Friday. Joe Mauer singled in Eduardo Escobar to give the Twins their first lead of the season.
It stayed 1-0 until the fifth inning, when a bases-loaded wild pitch allowed Escobar to score his second run of the day. In the sixth, Brian Dozier added to the lead with a solo home run.
The Twins then scored three insurance runs in the ninth.
Dozier finished 2-for-5 with the home run, while Kurt Suzuki was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
Paul Molitor gets his first victory as an MLB manager — or a manager at any level, for that matter. #MNTwins
— Tyler Mason (@tylermason21) April 10, 2015
First Major League win for @Twins Manager Paul Molitor. pic.twitter.com/CwoUp056mD
— Dustin Morse (@Twins_morsecode) April 10, 2015
Pelfrey will make the start on Saturday for the Twins (1-3) against Chicago’s Jeff Samardzija.
