Giolito earns 11th victory as White Sox beat Twins 4-3

CHICAGO (AP) - Lucas Giolito was named an All-Star for the first time. Then just a few hours later he earned his major league-leading 11th victory.

Giolito allowed one hit in five innings and the Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins 4-3 on Sunday.

“Good day, good day,” Giolito said. “It’s been a dream of mine to be an MLB All-Star ever since I was a little kid. Now it’s happening. It’s probably going to take a couple days to sink in for real.”

Yoan Moncada homered and he and Jose Abreu had three hits apiece for the White Sox, who won two of three against the AL Central-leading Twins.

Nelson Cruz homered for the Twins, who had won eight of nine against Chicago.

Giolito (11-2) struck out four and lowered his ERA to 2.72 before a nearly three-hour rain delay forced his exit. Giolito was coming off a loss to the Chicago Cubs and a no-decision against Boston after he went 9-0 in his previous 11 starts.

“It’s an amazing feeling after the year I had last year, battling back, figuring some things out and pitching like how I know I can pitch,” said Giolito, who was last among qualifying pitchers in the majors with a 6.13 ERA in 2018.

Moncada hit a two-run home run in the third for his 14th of the season. Alex Colome got four outs to earn his 18th save out of 19 opportunities.

The White Sox scored two runs on four straight singles in the sixth.

Cruz smacked a two-run home run to center and pinch-hitter Miguel Sano singled to cut it to 4-3 in the seventh. It was Cruz’s third drive in two games and 16th this season.

Lewis Thorpe (0-1), a 23-year-old left-hander from Melbourne, Australia, made his major league debut for the Twins. He allowed two runs and five hits, struck out seven and walked two in five innings. Thorpe was 0-1 with a 4.08 ERA in June at Triple-A Rochester.

“I know I have the stuff to do it,” said Thorpe, who was optioned to Triple-A after the game. I know my Triple-A numbers aren’t that good, but I went out there and threw strikes and now I’m gonna take that confidence back down to Triple-A and hopefully do what I did today down there.”

CEASE TO MAKE DEBUT

Right-hander Dylan Cease will make his debut for the White Sox Wednesday when he starts the first game of a doubleheader against Detroit. He was part of the 2017 five-player trade that sent left-hander Jose Quintana to the Chicago Cubs and brought outfielder Eloy Jimenez to the White Sox.

Cease, the Cubs’ sixth round draft pick in 2014, pitched a scoreless inning Thursday in his last outing at Triple-A Charlotte. He allowed 13 earned runs in his previous 11 1/3 innings.

“His last few outings over there he’s been working and trying to get himself back on track,” manager Rick Renteria said. “Everybody’s looking for him to be challenged now. Everybody feels this is the right time.”

ALL-STARS ANNOUNCED

Twins starting right-hander Jake Odorizzi and shortstop Jorge Polanco were named All-Stars.

“You could look at every part of our team and find guys that are obvious All-Stars that weren’t selected,” manager Rocco Baldelli said.

First baseman Abreu, Giolito and catcher James McCann were selected from the White Sox.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: OF Max Kepler was out of the starting lineup. He tweaked his right knee making a catch in right field Saturday and was replaced on defense in the ninth. Baldelli said Kepler was available to hit and be a defensive replacement Sunday. .OF Marwin Gonzalez started at third base after playing the outfield Saturday. Baldelli said he didn’t want Gonzalez (strained right hamstring) starting back-to-back games in the outfield after being reinstated from the 10-day injured list Saturday. .The Twins are expected to make a corresponding move to optioning Thorpe on Tuesday.

UP NEXT

Twins: Odorizzi (10-3, 2.73 ERA) starts Tuesday’s series opener at Oakland. He has allowed 11 runs in his last 15 1/3 innings. RHP Daniel Mengden (2-1, 4.03) starts for the A’s.

White Sox: RHP Reynaldo Lopez (4-7, 6.12) starts Tuesday’s series opener against Detroit and LHP Matthew Boyd (5-6, 3.72). Lopez is 1-3 with a 7.61 ERA in his last seven starts.

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