Sean Burke knew he’d made a mistake. The White Sox pitcher left a slider in the heart of the zone to Twins All-Star Byron Buxton.
Buxton got all of the pitch for his first homer of the year on a fly ball to center field.
Then in the fourth inning, after allowing a single and a hit by pitch, Burke allowed a three-run homer to left fielder Harrison Bader on a 0-0 count. It was just the fourth inning, but with a quiet Sox offense, the game was all but over.
“Just a couple of pitches got away from him,” manager Will Venable said. “He commanded the fastball well. I thought he did a good job with the curveball. Just a couple of pitches he wasn’t able to execute.”
The Sox dropped their second straight series to open 2025 after Wednesday’s 6-1 loss to the Twins following a 3-hour, 20-minute rain delay.
Burke said he needs to make sure he’s throwing into good spots, whether he’s up in the count or not. His slider had a zContact % of 90%.
“Just being better about getting it to good spots within the zone and not just throwing it for a strike but like making it a good quality pitch, even that lower left quadrant,” Burke said of the two sliders.
Burke battled his control all day, resulting in his worst outing since September of last season. The 25-year-old right-hander went 4 ⅓ innings and allowed seven hits, six runs and two homers. Despite averaging 94.8 mph on his fastball, he had just one punchout.
“The command of it was not the greatest,” Burke said of his slider. “The two they hit were just middle-middle sliders that get hit pretty often when you throw them in those spots.
“Going back to halfway through last year, my biggest thing was [that] I want to be able to beat guys in zone. I don’t want to beat myself. I don’t want to put guys on base.”
Burke got hit in the back of his right knee off a 108.4 mph line drive from Twins right fielder Matt Wallner in the second inning but remained in the game. He said he anticipates being sore but isn’t too concerned about it.
The Sox’ offense was just as much a culprit as Burke’s performance. The offense totaled six hits and only threatened to score in the fifth inning when they had runners on first and second. Lopez faced the minimum number of batters three times. Twins starter Pablo Lopez cruised through seven innings of one-run baseball on 98 pitches. He generated nine whiffs and limited the Sox to four hits Utility infielder Brooks Baldwin’s solo homer in the seventh inning is the only thing that saved the Sox from being shutout.
“Just really crisp,” Venable said of Lopez’s outing. “Fastball was really good. We know he’s got a good changeup and the slider for the righties. Just [a] really good fastball tonight.”
Through two series, the Sox stand at 2-4 like the rest of the AL Central. It’s not a vast improvement from last year, but an improvement nonetheless. They had real opportunities to win two series but couldn’t get over the hump in the final game. Adjustments are in order, but the Sox aren’t discouraged by their play at the start of the season.
“Today we ran into a good pitcher on their end,” Burke said. “Everyone has been swinging the bat well and having good at-bats even when we are making outs. I think the first two series are encouraging.”