MINNEAPOLIS — The White Sox’ bats went silent Sunday, with the team falling short of a sweep by losing 5-1 to the Twins in the finale of a three-game series.
Nonetheless, the Sox buried the Twins in the American League Central standings, leaving them 7½ games back with a month to go in the regular season.
Twins starter Zebby Matthews had a perfect game until No. 9 hitter Drew Romo (.140/.229/.292) pulled a single to right field with two outs in the sixth inning. Matthews scattered four other hits in 8⅓ innings and struck out five.
Braden Montgomery got the Sox on the board with an RBI single in the ninth.
‘‘We swung the bats better than the box score’s going to show,’’ manager Will Venable said. ‘‘We had a lot of hard contact there early, [but it was] right at guys. They made good defensive plays.’’
Twins hitters took full advantage of a bullpen day for the Sox, tagging opener Jordan Hicks for three runs, Tyler Gilbert for another Jose Urquidy for the last.
Urquidy went five innings for a desperate pitching staff and figures to keep filling gaps for Venable as the calendar flips to September.
‘‘I had . . . five days of rest, felt fresh today,’’ Urquidy said a week after getting roughed up by the Rangers. ‘‘If [Venable] wants me to start, I’ll start. If they want me to be out of the pen, I’ll be ready, too, like today. We have the same purpose: win games and be here in October.’’
The Sox lead the second-place Guardians by 3½ games with four weeks left in the regular season.
No panic for Castillo
General manager Chris Getz hasn’t exactly gotten what he ordered with trade-deadline prize Luis Castillo, who has a 6.45 ERA in five starts for the Sox.
After his latest clunker Friday against the Twins, Castillo said his struggles have come when he’s ‘‘trying to be perfect with every pitch.’’
‘‘Pitching for this team gives me a lot of confidence because I know that I’m on a good team,’’ Castillo said through an interpreter. ‘‘Those guys have my back, and every time I go there they’re going to try to perform and do their best.
‘‘I’ve been feeling pretty comfortable here. We’ve created a good relationship with my teammates and the manager and, of course, the pitching coach. We’re in a good spot, and we’re always in communication, trying to get better and improve.’’
Teel feeling better
Venable said injured catcher Kyle Teel is nearing a return to the big-league roster. The Sox are taking it ‘‘day by day’’ as Teel works his way back from his third stint on the injured list this season, this time for a sprained ankle.
Teel has gone 2-for-10 with four strikeouts and a walk in the first three games of his rehab assignment at Triple-A Charlotte. He has been the catcher for two of those outings.
‘‘I’m telling him, more than anything, ‘This is kind of like your spring training all over again,’ ’’ said Sox hitting director Ryan Fuller, who visited Teel in Charlotte. ‘‘He’s feeling really good physically, and now it’s getting up to speed and making sure those ABs are there.’’