MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Lenyn Sosa and Miguel Vargas homered Thursday as the Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins 3-0 in a game that was shortened to seven innings because of rain.
The win salvaged the finale of the three-game series for Chicago and snapped a 14-game losing streak at Target Field, the longest road losing streak against any opponent in team history.
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Chicago White Sox's Miguel Vargas (20) celebrates with coach Justin Jirschele (17) after hitting a home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
Chicago White Sox's Andrew Vaughn (25) reacts after getting a base hit during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
Minnesota Twins' Harrison Bader bats against the Chicago White Sox during the seventh inning of a baseball game Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
Chicago White Sox second baseman Lenyn Sosa (50) throws the ball during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
CORRECTS ID TO PITCHER BRANDON EISERT (53) , NOT ASSISTANT PITCHING COACH MATT WISE (53) - Chicago White Sox pitcher Brandon Eisert (53) throws to the Minnesota Twins during the seventh inning of a baseball game Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
Chicago White Sox's Lenyn Sosa (50) rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the second inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
Chicago White Sox's Miguel Vargas (20) rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
Shane Smith (1-1) allowed one walk and four hits while striking out seven over five innings to pick up his first major league victory.
Jordan Leasure and Brandon Eisert each pitched a scoreless inning in relief, with Eisert picking up his first career save.
Chris Paddack (0-3) gave up two runs on five hits with four walks and five strikeouts to remain winless in five starts this season.
Sosa gave the White Sox a 1-0 lead in the second when he drilled Paddack's first pitch deep into the left field seats.
Paddack's control deserted him in the fourth inning, when the White Sox staged a two-out rally. Paddack walked Vargas, gave up an infield single to Michael A. Taylor, then walked Bobby Dalbec and Joshua Palacios to force home Chicago's second run.
Vargas led off the sixth with a homer off reliever Jorge Alcala.
The umpire crew called for the tarps to cover the field at 2:40 p.m. local time. The game was officially called just over an hour later.
The White Sox, who rank last in the majors in batting average with runners in scoring position, went 1 for 20 in those situations during the series.
The White Sox head to California for a three-game set with the Athletics. RHP Sean Burke (1-3, 6.23) will start Friday’s series opener. Minnesota is expected to activate RHP Pablo López (1-1, 1.62) from the 10-day IL to make the start on Friday when the Angels visit to kick off a three-game series.
AP baseball: https://apnews.com/MLB
Chicago White Sox's Miguel Vargas (20) celebrates with coach Justin Jirschele (17) after hitting a home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
Chicago White Sox's Andrew Vaughn (25) reacts after getting a base hit during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
Minnesota Twins' Harrison Bader bats against the Chicago White Sox during the seventh inning of a baseball game Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
Chicago White Sox second baseman Lenyn Sosa (50) throws the ball during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
CORRECTS ID TO PITCHER BRANDON EISERT (53) , NOT ASSISTANT PITCHING COACH MATT WISE (53) - Chicago White Sox pitcher Brandon Eisert (53) throws to the Minnesota Twins during the seventh inning of a baseball game Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
Chicago White Sox's Lenyn Sosa (50) rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the second inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
Chicago White Sox's Miguel Vargas (20) rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Thursday, April 24, 2025, in Minneapolis, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.
In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.
Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.
“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.
If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.
For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.
“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.
Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.
"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.
Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.
Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.
Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.
The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.
“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.
As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.
What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.
The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.
One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.
Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.
“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.
The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.
Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.
“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.
Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.
“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
