Twins 3, White Sox 1: Gray, Bullpen Finish off the White Sox for a Series Win

[Thiéres Rabelo]

A once again depleted Twins lineup struggled to provide a lot of runs, with the score being 1-0 until the eighth inning. But a solid start by Sonny Gray and a fantastic four-inning outing by the bullpen put the Twins on top against the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday afternoon.

Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score
Starting Pitcher: Sonny Gray, 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K (78 pitches, 45 strikes, 57.7%)
Home Runs: none
Top 3 WPA: Sonny Gray (.275), Griffin Jax (.116), Ryan Jeffers (.095)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Julien makes his big-league debut
The biggest story before this game was second baseman Édouard Julien being called up to the majors earlier today. With Joey Gallo being placed on the 10-day injury list, the Canadian infielder was hurried back to the Twin Cities from Indianapolis to join the Twins roster and make his big-league debut. His first at-bat came only in the third inning, as Lucas Giolito cruised through the first two innings. The at-bat was rather quick, with Julien grounding out after only two pitches.

But it wasn’t his first trip to the bat that caused some concern. In the top of the third, Andrew Benintendi hit a ground ball to right, towards Julien. The rookie infielder managed to get to the ball in time, but the ball just skidded under his glove to reach right field. It wasn’t ruled an error for him, but it was certainly a playable hit. Then, in the fifth inning, he made an awful throw to first base trying to pick off the runner, but fortunately, there were no repercussions. First-day jitters? We sure hope so.

Twins take the lead after a scary moment for Farmer
It was exactly after Julien’s first at-bat that things started to slip away from Giolito’s control. He gave up back-to-back singles, then loaded the bases by giving up a two-out walk to José Miranda. Nick Gordon flied out to center, and the Twins couldn’t capitalize on their first big threat, but some command problems by Giolito, combined with a few defensive mishaps by the White Sox defense, were about to give Minnesota its first lead shortly.

In the fourth inning’s first at-bat, Ryan Jeffers hit a bullet to deep right field, which possibly was playable for Gavin Sheets. However, the White Sox outfielder fell down and couldn’t make the play, allowing Jeffers to reach third. Then, with Kyle Farmer batting, Giolito badly misplaced a fastball and ended up hitting the Twins infielder right in the face. He left the game with what the Twins initially called a jaw injury.

Following that play, Julien made his second trip to the plate and took advantage of Giolito apparently still feeling shaken for hitting Farmer. The Chicago starter was all over the place during the at-bat, and Julien drew a five-pitch walk to load the bases again. Michael A. Taylor grounded out to first base, and the White Sox defense once again failed to field cleanly and, instead of turning a double play, allowed Jeffers to score from third.

Gray tosses five scoreless but doesn’t look sharp in the end
Making his third start of the season, Sonny Gray delivered another scoreless outing. However, he didn’t look as sharp as he did in his last time around when he pitched seven brilliant innings of one-run ball against the Astros on Friday. The White Sox put some pressure on him right out of the gate, with Luis Robert Jr. (double) and Andrew Vaughn (walk) both reaching in the first inning. He responded by retiring the next six batters he faced.

After giving up two more singles in the third, then throwing a 1-2-3 fourth, he seemed to have command issues during the fifth. He simply couldn't find the strike zone against Seby Zavala, giving up a leadoff walk. He did manage to retire the next three batters, but he struggled to throw strikes. At the end of the day, what matters the most is the fact that he kept Chicago scoreless, but it’s worth wondering why he was a bit off target during that inning. He was pulled after the fifth with only 78 pitches thrown, but also throwing less than 58% strikes.

Offense adds on, and the bullpen holds on tight
Coming into this game, the White Sox bullpen had the third-worst ERA in the majors, at 6.91. When Giolito departed the game after the sixth inning, the Twins' offense managed their first multi-hit inning since the third but failed to capitalize in the seventh. Byron Buxton was involved in a collision with infielder Lenyn Sosa and landed awkwardly in the inning’s final out.

But things were different in the bottom of the eighth. Jeffers hit a leadoff single and, a couple of at-bats later, was brought home by a Willi Castro double to right. Castro himself moved up to third on a Matt Wallner sac-fly, then scored on a Taylor bloop single to shallow center, making it 3-0 Twins.

Upon the departure of Gray, the Twins’ bullpen absolutely dominated Chicago’s lineup. Jorge Alcalá, Jorge López, and Griffin Jax tossed three scoreless innings on 39 pitches, allowing only one hit and one walk. With the run support provided in the eighth, Jhoan Durán came in to get the save. He did give up a leadoff single, taken care of by a double play, and then a two-out solo home run to Sosa, but eventually finished off the game with a groundout to earn his third save of the season.

Postgame interview

What’s Next?
Minnesota gets back on the road starting tomorrow for a four-game set against the New York Yankees in the Bronx. The first game of the series is scheduled for this Thursday (4/13) at 6:05 pm CDT, with Joe Ryan (2-0, 3.75 ERA) set to start the game for the Twins and Jhony Brito (2-0, 0.90 ERA) taking the mound for New York.

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	SAT	SUN	MON	TUE	WED	TOT
Alcalá	0	45	0	0	15	60
Morán	20	0	35	0	0	55
Durán	3	0	0	24	15	42
Jax	12	0	0	8	12	32
López	14	0	0	0	12	26
Pagán	0	23	0	0	0	23
Thielbar	0	0	10	4	0	14
Sands	0	0	0	0	0	0

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[ashbury]

Rocco didn't want to get into details, and implied the team is working on an official statement concerning Farmer.  But at minimum, some teeth seem to have gotten jarred loose, and there was a major laceration; a "procedure" is planned for today.  Scary scary scary.  Good luck to you, Kyle.

[cheeseheadgophfan]

If you watched the game, the ball hit him flush in the face (that sickening sound).  I'm amazed it didn't break his jaw.  Speedy recovery to Kyle!!!!

[jkcarew]

Good point! The strike-3 to Robert was a huge break. And the bullpen made the break count. Which was nice.

[FlyingFinn]

Rocco talked about making a move. There isn't anyone left on 40 man roster for position players and there are 40 men on the roster. Polanco????????

[oregontwin]

Is it my imagination or did the umpire stepping into the running lane force Buxton inside? The collision occurred well inside the bag. Odd place for Buxton to be running.

[Althebum82]

Please note that the bullpen usage chart needs to be updated to show a total of 14 for Thielbar, not ten.  

Twins continue their great start to this season!

[Byrdman]

Correa better be ready.  We don't have a backup at SS now except for Castro and Gordon. Both are subpar but can hold it for a off day. 

[wsnydes]

Ugly win for a variety of reasons, but a win is a win is a win and it all looks the same in the standings.  Winning a series against a division rival is never a bad thing.

Best wishes to Farmer and his jaw!

[glunn]

I am keeping fingers crossed that Farmer's injury is not as bad as it looked.

[PDX Twin]

Missed the game, but it sounds like the Hospital Twins are picking up right where they left off last year.

[Doctor Gast]

Farmer has been a valuable player wish him a speedy recovery. Castro looked decent at SS. These guys need to hold down the fort until Polanco is ready. Disappointed that Gray didn't go more than 5 innings.

[cheeseheadgophfan]

We are going to be very left-handed vs. the Yankees (assuming that's some of the rationale behind Garlick).  

Miranda, Correa (hopefully), Julien, Solano, Vazquez, Larnach, Taylor, Gordon, Wallner, ----not a batting order.

[cheeseheadgophfan]

Am I the only one that thought that was seriously bad base-running by Buxton????   If he just goes to the outside, I don't think Chicago has any play with Gordon running.......

[KirbyDome89]

Monday: Sox commit 3 official errors, boot a rundown which ends up with Tim Anderson on the IL for 2 weeks, and they still manage to win the game.

Tuesday: Sox literally throw the game away in extra innings when they can't field a bunt.

Wednesday: Sheets falls down on a routine fly ball resulting in a Jeffers "triple." Jeffers scores two batters later when Vaughn bobbles a ground ball and can't make a throw home. Willi Castro and his .000 slugging% "break the game open," with a double to put the Twins up 2-0. 

I guess that's baseball for ya, but yeesh, not much about the way this team is winning feels remotely sustainable. There was endless complaining about bad luck last year, this must be the overcorrection. 

[railmarshalljon]

Hope Farmer is ok. Sheesh that was hard to watch. 

That being said, Falvey did well forming the bench. Depth has been crucial so far. Big shoutout to MAT for holding down center until Bux can take over and for Donny B for being as advertised. This lineup could definitely use some juice from AK and Polanco.

Lets go sweep them Yanks! 

[Seth Stohs]

1 hour ago, cheeseheadgophfan said:

If you watched the game, the ball hit him flush in the face (that sickening sound).  I'm amazed it didn't break his jaw.  Speedy recovery to Kyle!!!!

I saw it live on TV, then had to be away from the TV... but they didn't even show the replay right away. The sound was awful. Definitely we wish him well! 

[Beast]

They keep finding ways to win games.  Gotta give them that.

But, for the love of Pete, get Nick Gordon out of the cleanup spot.  He had 6 guys on base in 3 of his 4 ABs.  He averaged 2.33 pitches in those ABs, 7 pitches total.  He took 1 ball.  3 swinging strikes, 1 looking.  Put two balls into play meekly.  Stranded all 6.  His other AB was 4 pitched, swung at all of them.  All ABs were with 2 outs.  He ended 4 different innings.

That’s just absolutely terrible and unacceptable.  Get a professional hitter behind Buxton.  There are guys on this roster that can take a higher quality at bat even with all the injuries.

But, that’s my only gripe.  The pitching is unreal right now.

[Vanimal46]

The sound of the baseball hitting Farmer square in the jaw is nightmare fuel. Giolito was visibly shaken once he saw where it was going. Good luck to Farmer in his recovery. 

[bighat]

Glad they got the win. Happy the Twins are pitching well. 

At this point they've got to be the most boring team in baseball to watch, and with this offense they aren't going anywhere. Just wait until they go into New York against Cole, I'm guessing it's even money on whether or not they'll get no-hit. This lineup wasn't hitting WITH its big names, and now the big names are already hurt one week into the season (which I must say is very on-brand, the Buxton collision today was just chef's kiss straight-out-of-central-casting). 

Is there any hope for an offensive spark? Are we waiting for Royce Lewis to come and save this team? Polanco? Kepler? Gallo? 'Cause that's all we got last time I checked. Honestly I'd rather watch the Twins score 6 runs per game and go 60-102 as opposed to watch whatever this is and see them go 70-92. 

I know as fans we're supposed to be hopeful and cheerful....but sometimes I feel like I'm not watching the same games as some of you. Is nobody else seeing how limp this offense looks, regardless of who's in the lineup? Is the 8-4 record enough to keep everyone else from being dreadfully concerned? 

Because I am pretty sure we're watching what might be the worst offense in baseball when the season's all said and done. 

[MGX]

We're only 12 games into the season, the team looks to me as expected - Very good pitching & D with a questionable offense that needs people to step up. I'm not overly concerned after 12 games & happy to see them at 8-4. 

If we can stop losing people on a daily basis due to injury that would help to.

[cheeseheadgophfan]

42 minutes ago, bighat said:

Glad they got the win. Happy the Twins are pitching well. 

At this point they've got to be the most boring team in baseball to watch, and with this offense they aren't going anywhere. Just wait until they go into New York against Cole, I'm guessing it's even money on whether or not they'll get no-hit. This lineup wasn't hitting WITH its big names, and now the big names are already hurt one week into the season (which I must say is very on-brand, the Buxton collision today was just chef's kiss straight-out-of-central-casting). 

Is there any hope for an offensive spark? Are we waiting for Royce Lewis to come and save this team? Polanco? Kepler? Gallo? 'Cause that's all we got last time I checked. Honestly I'd rather watch the Twins score 6 runs per game and go 60-102 as opposed to watch whatever this is and see them go 70-92. 

I know as fans we're supposed to be hopeful and cheerful....but sometimes I feel like I'm not watching the same games as some of you. Is nobody else seeing how limp this offense looks, regardless of who's in the lineup? Is the 8-4 record enough to keep everyone else from being dreadfully concerned? 

Because I am pretty sure we're watching what might be the worst offense in baseball when the season's all said and done. 

Polo, AK, Gallo, Buck, Farmer, Lewis, Kepler

We almost have a full lineup of injured players right now.

You gotta cut them a little slack, right?

[ashbury]

[stringer bell]

Who had Jeffers, Taylor & Castro as the hitting heroes? Six hits between them including a double and triple and all the runs scored and driven in. 

[Nine of twelve]

3 hours ago, oregontwin said:

Is it my imagination or did the umpire stepping into the running lane force Buxton inside? The collision occurred well inside the bag. Odd place for Buxton to be running.

He's still gotta avoid the interference because that's an automatic out. Level the ump if need be.

[Dave Borton]

44 minutes ago, MGX said:

...

If we can stop losing people on a daily basis due to injury that would help to.

Twins hired Paparesta Oct 27, giving his predecessor his walking papers. Seems like sufficient time to get each player a training plan for over-wintering and coming in to ST in shape.

Doesn't seem to have been very effective. Do these guys work out over winter? Are Twins/other MLB clubs just being cautious with their investment?

I don't ever recall such a vast amount of injuries in all my years of watching MLB.

[h2oface]

As good as Duran is, he is getting a lot of fouls and guys touching his pitches. And another homer on a middle middle pitch. I hope that changes. Lopez almost hit someone in the head, too.

Now to Queens (brain fart) the Bronx with depleted roster and Duran and Jax probably not available tomorrow. Good luck to us. Glad they got this win after all it cost. Time for the bats to go crazy.

[Danchat]

3 hours ago, KirbyDome89 said:

Monday: Sox commit 3 official errors, boot a rundown which ends up with Tim Anderson on the IL for 2 weeks, and they still manage to win the game.

Tuesday: Sox literally throw the game away in extra innings when they can't field a bunt.

Wednesday: Sheets falls down on a routine fly ball resulting in a Jeffers "triple." Jeffers scores two batters later when Vaughn bobbles a ground ball and can't make a throw home. Willi Castro and his .000 slugging% "break the game open," with a double to put the Twins up 2-0. 

I guess that's baseball for ya, but yeesh, not much about the way this team is winning feels remotely sustainable. There was endless complaining about bad luck last year, this must be the overcorrection. 

Teams should be bunting at least once per inning against the White Sox, they're so terrible at fielding that they'll screw up about half of them. It's pretty crazy how consistently bad they've been on defense the past couple years.

[Eephus]

29 minutes ago, Nine of twelve said:

He's still gotta avoid the interference because that's an automatic out. Level the ump if need be.

Reckless and pointless by Buxton. You see him doing things like that and feels like just a matter of time before he's seriously injured. Reckless.

[hitterscount]

2 hours ago, Beast said:

They keep finding ways to win games.  Gotta give them that.

But, for the love of Pete, get Nick Gordon out of the cleanup spot.  He had 6 guys on base in 3 of his 4 ABs.  He averaged 2.33 pitches in those ABs, 7 pitches total.  He took 1 ball.  3 swinging strikes, 1 looking.  Put two balls into play meekly.  Stranded all 6.  His other AB was 4 pitched, swung at all of them.  All ABs were with 2 outs.  He ended 4 different innings.

That’s just absolutely terrible and unacceptable.  Get a professional hitter behind Buxton.  There are guys on this roster that can take a higher quality at bat even with all the injuries.

But, that’s my only gripe.  The pitching is unreal right now.

After watching I would agree, but everyone looks offensively challenged and that is being generous. I am not sure who they can move behind him, Miranda, Larnach, Jeffers, and pretty much everyone else looks lost at the plate. Good pitching and defense can win a lot of games. 

Wishing Farmer a speedy recovery... that was brutal.