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MLB

Twins drop a young pitchers' duel to Covey, White Sox

By FoxSports
Published | Updated
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MINNEAPOLIS -- Dylan Covey allowed one run on five hits while pitching into the sixth inning of his big league debut and Matt Davidson hit a solo home run in the seventh to lift the Chicago White Sox to a 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.

Covey walked three and struck out one in 5 1-3 innings. Davidson's third homer of the year reached the upper deck in right field off Twins reliever Ryan Pressly (0-1) and David Robertson picked up his second save.

Dan Jennings (1-0) pitched one inning of scoreless relief.

The White Sox selected Covey in the Rule 5 draft from Oakland, the culmination of a winding road to the majors. He was a first-round draft pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in 2010, but did not sign and then was picked by the Athletics in the fourth round in 2013.

The only run he allowed came on a groundout from Jason Castro in the second inning.

Covey wasn't the only White Sox player to make his big league debut on Friday night.

Left fielder Willy Garcia was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte to fill in while Melky Cabrera is on paternity leave. Garcia hit a double in his first at-bat, but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple.

Garcia also was a part of history, with the White Sox becoming the first team to start three players with the same last name in the outfield. Avisail Garcia, who had two hits to extend his season-opening hitting streak to nine games, started in right field and Leury Garcia was in center. The three are not related.

The hard-throwing Pressly had not given up a run in three appearances this season, with many in the Twins organization seeing him as a future closer. But Davidson got hold of one of his fastballs to lead off the seventh inning, sending his third homer of the year sailing into the seats in right field to give the White Sox the lead.

Adalberto Mejia gave up one run on four hits with four strikeouts and three walks in five innings for the Twins. Brian Dozier had two hits.

TRAINER'S ROOM

White Sox: Todd Frazier returned to the lineup at DH after missing the previous two games with an illness. Manager Rick Renteria said he wanted to ease Frazier back in as the DH before getting him some time back at 3B later this weekend.

DELAYED START

The start of the game was held up 36 minutes by rain. Steady showers fell again in the second and third innings, but the teams were able to keep playing through it.

While the crowd waited for the game to begin, the Twins showed Game 2 of the NHL Western Conference quarterfinals series between the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues on the big screen.

TOUGH BREAK

Twins CF Byron Buxton has been sensational in the field but has struggled mightily at the plate. He is hitting .081 with a league-leading 20 strikeouts. He hit a line drive in the second inning off Covey that appeared headed down the left field line for extra bases. But the ball drilled third base umpire Todd Tichenor and fell foul, taking the hit away. Buxton struck out swinging after that and went 0 for 3.

UP NEXT

The Twins send RHP Ervin Santana (2-0, 0.69) to the mound to face White Sox LHP Jose Quintana (0-2, 6.17) in the second of a three-game series. Santana ranks fifth in the American League in ERA, with just one run allowed in his first two starts. Quintana is holding opponents to a .222 batting average, but has given up eight runs in 11 2-3 innings.