CHICAGO — Lucas Giolito lobbed an expletive-laced response in Josh Donaldson’s direction after the slugger appeared to yell “Not sticky anymore” after a first-inning homer, overshadowing Gavin Sheets’ successful debut for the White Sox in a 7-6 victory over the Twins.
Giolito says Donaldson is “a (expletive) pest and calls the display “kind of a classless move.”
Donaldson did not speak with the media after the Twins' loss.
Giolito pitched six-plus innings of three-run ball in his first win in a month. Sheets had two hits and two RBIs to help Chicago increase its AL Central lead to 2 1/2 games over Cleveland.
Twins starter Kenta Maeda struggled to find the plate in an outing that lasted just 4 2/3 innings. He gave up just one run in the first inning after loading the bases but kept walking White Sox, allowing two more in the third before the roof fell in during a four-run fifth.
The Twins launched a comeback attempt in the seventh, when Trevor Larnach, Nelson Cruz and Max Kepler hit consecutive triples and Alex Kirilloff added an RBI groundout to draw closer. In the ninth, they got the potential tying run to third base, but eventually came up one run short.