CHICAGO (AP) — Asked about Tony La Russa, an emotional Miguel Cairo had to pause and take a drink of water to regain his composure.
It was that kind of day.
The Chicago White Sox watched La Russa step down as manager, and then beat the Minnesota Twins 3-2 on Monday night behind Johnny Cueto’s seven effective innings.
La Russa departed because of a pair of health issues, punctuating a disappointing season for the Hall of Famer in the same spot where he got his first job as a big league manager. The White Sox are 80-80 after beginning the year with championship aspirations.
Cairo played for La Russa before becoming his bench coach in Chicago. He took over after La Russa left the club on Aug. 30.
“He’s my mentor. I’ve learned so much from him,” Cairo said. “And of course I’m going to keep calling to keep learning. But we’re going to miss him, for sure.”
La Russa met with his team before announcing the move, and the players joined their former manager for his press conference about the decision.
“The last thing I said to the players in the meeting was that I love them,” said La Russa, a three-time World Series champion who turns 78 on Tuesday. “I can’t be more thankful.”
Josh Harrison hit a two-run homer in Chicago’s fourth win in five games. Cueto (8-10) stopped a personal four-game slide, and Liam Hendriks got three outs for his 37th save.
Minnesota dropped to 9-19 in its last 28 games. Gio Urshela hit a two-run homer, and Bailey Ober pitched five innings of two-hit ball.
“I had to grind a little bit today and battle,” Ober said. “Definitely they made some adjustments from the last outing. I kind of had to mix it up after the first two innings.”
The game was tied at 2 before Carlos Pérez drove in AJ Pollock with a two-out single against Griffin Jax (7-4) in the seventh. It was Pérez’s second career hit and first RBI.
The Twins loaded the bases with two out in the ninth, but Hendriks struck out Mark Contreras swinging to close it out.
