Another dismal offensive, defensive effort dooms White Sox in 2-1 loss to Twins

Winning games when you're not hitting is hard enough.

Winning games when you're not hitting and also playing porous defense is nearly impossible.

Meet the White Sox, who are not hitting, not playing defense and are now riding a five-game losing streak after falling to the Twins 2-1 Friday night at Target Field.

Leading 1-0 in the eighth inning thanks to a strong start from Michael Kopech and Andrew Vaughn's solo home run in the fifth, throwing errors by shortstop Tim Anderson and first baseman Jose Abreu on the same play plated 2 runs for the Minnesota and that was the difference in the game.

The Sox (6-7) have already made 16 errors, most in the major leagues. Anderson has 6 errors.

In the ninth inning, the White Sox loaded the bases with one out, but they couldn't rally back after Reese McGuire popped out and Jake Burger took a called third strike to end it.

Kopech's four-seam fastball overpowered Minnesota, and the Sox's right-hander had 7 strikeouts and allowed 3 hits over 5 scoreless innings.

With Kendall Graveman pitching for the White Sox in the eighth, the right-hander got the first two outs before Ryan Jeffers doubled.

After Jeffers advanced to third base on a wild pitch and Graveman walked Luis Arraez, Carlos Correa grounded to Anderson, who made a wild throw to Abreu.

That allowed the Twins' first run to score, and Arraez also scored on Abreu's errant throw to the plate.

Before the game, manager Tony La Russa said Luis Robert is not going to play in the three-game series vs. the Twins after straining his right groin running to first base Thursday at Cleveland.

The Sox are off on Monday, so the extended rest could keep Robert off the injured list and get him back in the lineup Tuesday night for a game against the Royals at Guaranteed Rate Field.

AJ Pollock did return from the IL Friday after injuring his right hamstring in the White Sox's second game of the season.