Make it Official! Twins 6, White Sox 5: Sausage Kings of Chicago

[Ted Schwerzler]

For much of this season--and even much of this April-salvaging winning streak--the Minnesota Twins have had to make do without several of their best and most noteworthy players. Two of them are back, though, and they made their presence felt late in the team's ninth straight sausage fest.

Image courtesy of © Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

Box Score
SP: Simeon Woods Richardson
Home Runs: N/A
Top 3 WPA: Manuel Margot 0.217, Jhoan Durán .206, Trevor Larnach 0.194

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

SWR Shows Resolve
The Twins found themselves in a similar spot to what they experienced earlier this month when they faced a Detroit Tigers team seven times in 10 days. It’s always difficult for the pitcher to show different stuff, and you hope to keep a familiar lineup at bay.

After giving up a pair of shift-beating singles to start the second inning, Rocco Baldelli’s starter buckled down. Winning a battle of an at-bat against Andrew Benintendi, Simeon Woods Richardson then punched out Danny Mendick before getting Paul DeJong to end the inning.

The home side broke through in the third inning, when Tommy Pham doubled over Willi Castro’s head, and Martín Maldonado sprinted toward home. Chicago apparently forgot that Carlos Correa was activated yesterday, and was taking the relay throw at shortstop. His cannon of an arm cut down the run at the plate. Pham would score on an Eloy Jiménez single, but Woods Richardson limited the damage.

Nitpicking Comes Next
As mentioned, it is tough for veteran starters to see the same lineup twice in a row. When an untested rookie is making his first consecutive set of starts in his career, the familiarity effect can be overwhelming. Woods Richardson got ahead of Chicago batters all night, throwing 13 first-pitch strikes to 17 he had seen through 3 2/3 innings.

Needing an out to wrap up the 4th inning, the Minnesota pitcher nibbled at Maldonado and then inexplicably walked Nicky Lopez on four straight pitches. With the bases loaded and right-handed batter Pham stepping in, Baldelli made the curious decision to go with lefty Kody Funderburk. Pham lined a ball right to Carlos Santana’s glove, but he dropped it allowing DeJong to score. The Twins got out of the inning on the next at-bat, down 2-0, but that was a sequence of events that certainly could loom large. The play was changed to an error in the 6th inning

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Twins Daily's winning "Make It Official!" game recaps are sponsored by Official Fried Chicken, which you can find in center field of Target Field. With a name like "Official," we know we have to be the best in the game every day, and from your first bite, you'll know that's a promise we make good on.

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An Answer for Pham
Looking to respond in the top of the 5th inning, Trevor Larnach stepped in and immediately ripped a single through the right side of the infield. Standing on first with Castro stepping in, the Twins center fielder found his counterpart with a tailing ball in the gap. Pham left his feet and couldn’t come up with it. Castro brought in the run and stood on third with a triple.

Kyle Farmer, the original owner of the meat confection, then roped a double just inside the left field line to score Castro and knot the game at two. After seeing White Sox pitcher Michael Soroka blank them for five innings last week before breaking through, the good guys chased him a frame earlier this time around.

Sitting to start the game with the lefties dominating the lineup, Byron Buxton took over for Alex Kirilloff in the 5th inning. The talented center fielder popped up weekly to the infield on a 1-1 pitch, and it’s been his struggles at the plate that have kept him out of the lineup on a daily basis more than anything. Birthday boy Edouard Julien hit for himself against lefty Tanner Banks, but he couldn’t cash Farmer in from second and dropped to 0-for-3 on the night.

Minnesota Responds, Yet Again
Funderburk couldn’t limit the damage when coming back out for a full inning, and with two outs, he was taken to left-center field for a two-run blast by Danny Mendick. Down 4-2, Minnesota needed another response to tie things at four.

Jeffers, who has been the Twins' best hitter to start the season, ripped a double in the gap to start the top of the 6th inning. He was quickly followed by a Max Kepler single, and Minnesota had runners on the corners with no one out. Correa’s struggles to settle back in quickly set him down on strikes. On a 3-2 pitch Larnach struck out, but Kepler was looking to swipe a base, and Maldonado throwing through to second allowed Jeffers to steal home.

Santana needed a base hit to bring home the tying run, and he almost came through. Lopez booted the ball at second and would’ve given Minnesota runners on the corners, but Kepler rounded third too far and was tagged out after a brief rundown. Heading to the bottom of the 6th inning, it was a 4-3 lead for Chicago.

Minnesota got a man on in the 7th inning when Buxton was hit by a Steven Wilson pitch. That ensured he wouldn’t homer off of him again, as he did last week. Looking to steal a base with Julien in the box, he took off and was nabbed on a near-pitch out by Maldonado. The caught stealing was his first since August 31, 2021, ending a stretch of 20 consecutive stolen bases.

C4 Comes Through
Facing Jordan Leasure for another time this season, Jeffers stepped in with a single out and looked to pick Julien up from his birthday 0-fer. Drawing a walk, Manuel Margot came on to run at first base and provide a bit extra speed. After a Kepler groundout advanced the pinch runner, Minnesota needed to cash in. Correa had seen plenty of runners on base through his three at-bats and ripped a single to left field that scored Margot on a weak Andrew Benintendi throw.

As he has done multiple times over the games they have faced off this season, Larnach stepped in looking to wield a hot bat. A single would score Correa from second base, and the 95.7 mph base knock did the job. For the first time in the evening, in the top of the 8th inning, the Twins had a lead. Santana took a hit by pitch before former Twins prospect Prelander Berroa came on and hit Castro. With the bags juiced, Farmer's groundout to third ended the inning.

Cole Sands Setup Man
With Griffin Jax likely down for the day after pitching two games in a row, it was Cole Sands on for the 8th inning. It’s a spot he hasn’t been in and one that he’s only begun to earn the trust for with a strong start in 2024. After getting strikes on Benintendi, the White Sox outfielder took him deep to tie things up, and Mendick doubled to continue the threat. Striking out Robbie Grossman with 96 mph heat, it was Caleb Thielbar who came in with Korey Lee pinch-hitting for the White Sox.

After ending the game last night on a strikeout of Lee, Thielbar got a weak infield popup to record the inning’s second out. Lopez lined a ball back up the middle, but it was Correa and his arm ready to throw him out. Although the Twins lead was gone, they kept things tied and the sides were headed to the 9th inning.

Facing the Fireballer
The White Sox don’t employ many good pitchers, but Michael Kopech in the closer role is among them. Coming in looking to keep things even, he saw Buxton in the first at-bat. Looking to throw a 200 mph pitch for strike three in a full count, Kopech never made it competitive and Buxton took his base on the wild pitch. Margot shot a ball through the opposite side, moving the speedster to third before stealing second base. After following Buxton’s lead last night was followed by Kepler, and the pair did it again tonight. The right fielder lifted a sac fly to center field and Minnesota led again, this time 6-5.

Making his first appearance of the season for Minnesota, Jhoan Duran was set to face the heart of the order. Pham had his doors blown off by a fastball before adjusting and singling back up the middle to provide a leadoff baserunner. Jimenez then grounded into what was almost a double play ball before Gavin Sheets suffered the same fate. With Andrew Vaughn down to his final strike, Duran racked up his first strikeout of the season and the Twins had secured their ninth victory in a row.

Notes
Josh Winder, who began the year on the 60-day injured list, is working his way back for the Twins. He started on Tuesday night for Fort Myers as part of a rehab assignment. Working 1 2/3 innings, he gave up a pair of runs on four hits with four strikeouts.

In activating Jhoan Duran from the injured list, the Twins designated Matt Bowman for assignment. He will likely be lost on waivers, but can also reject an assignment to Triple-A and choose free agency. After how he pitched for Minnesota he seems likely to find a job elsewhere.

Pitching prospect David Festra struck out 10 for the Saints on Tuesday afternoon across five innings. Notably, he threw 80 pitches. While the build-up has been limited, that is the most pitches he has thrown in an outing this year. With Louie Varland back at Triple-A, and Simeon Woods Richardson occupying the fifth rotation spot, he seems likely to be the next man up.

Substantially problematic for local viewers using Comcast to watch Twins games, it was reported midgame that the ability to do so will potentially cease to exist.

What’s Next? 
Wednesday’s matinee will complete the three-game series with the White Sox, and by the time that game is over, Minnesota will have played Chicago for seven of their 13 total matchups this season. The teams won’t see each other again until early July.

The final game of the series features Bailey Ober going against Chris Flexen for the Pale Hose.

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

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[Guest]

I think it is great that the players have a sausage to share, but I for one will be glad when referring to it had run it’s course 

[darwin22]

Situational hitting proved to be the difference tonight!

6-13 with RISP with nearly all of them being BIG hits to produce runs:

Farmer RBI double in 5th to tie game.  Correa 2-out RBI single smoked (110 exit velo) to tie game in 7th. Larnach: 2 strike RBI single to break 4-4 tie. Kepler with a huge AB in 9th producing a SF after falling in 2-strike hole.

Hopefully, with Duran back now we won't be forced seeing Sands in a high leverage situation  anytime soon.  Sands has  been effective this season, but NOT a RP I want to see trying to protect a 1-run lead in the 8th.

 

 

 

 

[LastOnePicked]

Nine game winning streaks are fun. We should try a few more of these this season.

[D.C Twins]

Kepler in a contract year!

[VivaBomboRivera!]

5 hours ago, Verified Member said:

I think it is great that the players have a sausage to share, but I for one will be glad when referring to it had run it’s course 

Well, it _is_ a long summer sausage. 😎

[VivaBomboRivera!]

Just curious, was Pham's double catchable if Castro had run a better route?

Shortcomings and all, I am starting to love this year's version of the ball club.

[Schmoeman5]

13 minutes ago, VivaBomboRivera! said:

Just curious, was Pham's double catchable if Castro had run a better route?

Shortcomings and all, I am starting to love this year's version of the ball club.

Yes. Absolutely should have been caught. 

[Goofé Dean]

35 minutes ago, VivaBomboRivera! said:

Just curious, was Pham's double catchable if Castro had run a better route?

It sure looked like it. Seems like Buxton would have had it, had he been in in center at the time.

On the other hand, Buxton might have caught it and then smashed into the wall at full speed, somewhat like Royce Lewis did in his very short stint as a center fielder in 2022. So possibly everyone (other than Woods Richardson) dodged a bullet with that fly falling in for a not-quite-RBI double.

[Parfigliano]

2 hours ago, LastOnePicked said:

Nine game winning streaks are fun. We should try a few more of these this season.

They may as wellstart another with a win tomorrow.

[Mark G]

I would have liked to be a fly on the wall when the decision was made to let go of Bowman; that move is perplexing to me.  I, also, believe he will catch on with another team and, if I were him, I would decline the move to St. Paul and hook up somewhere else.  I guess brighter minds than mine will figure out that move, because I can't.  Someone educate me? 🤷‍♂️

[jimbo92107]

Just for fun, I copied a grammatically imperfect sentence from this article, then told ChatGPT to correct the grammar.

Me

correct the grammar in the following: The talented center fielder popped up weekly to the infield on a 1-1 pitch, and it’s been his struggles at the plate that have kept him out of the lineup on a daily basis more than anything.

ChatGPT

The corrected sentence is: "The talented center fielder popped up weakly to the infield on a 1-1 pitch, and it's been his struggles at the plate that have kept him out of the lineup on a daily basis more than anything."

Impressive! The AI spotted "weekly" and changed it to "weakly," based most likely on many thousands of example sentences. 

My point? Not much, really. AI's are getting better at detecting things, but they still don't really understand what they're doing. I suppose that's why RoboUmp can call balls and strikes, but we should still have a human ump for more subtle things. 

[UK Twin]

22 minutes ago, Mark G said:

I would have liked to be a fly on the wall when the decision was made to let go of Bowman; that move is perplexing to me.  I, also, believe he will catch on with another team and, if I were him, I would decline the move to St. Paul and hook up somewhere else.  I guess brighter minds than mine will figure out that move, because I can't.  Someone educate me? 🤷‍♂️

While his ERA is good, delve deeper into the stats and it suggests his ERA is a lot lower than it should be. He was giving up a .050 BA with balls in play and a 90% strand rate - neither are sustainable. His SIERA is 4.38. TBH even if we kept him now, he would have been DFA'd when Topa is activated.

[UK Twin]

I'd like to point out that Chicago swept Tampa Bay at the weekend and the Phillies were 2 outs away from going 2-0 down in their series against the Angels. So as as far as I'm concerned, our 9 game winning streak is very impressive. 

Another win fitting of the rally sausage. Nice to get Duran in straight away for his first save of the year. 

[bighat]

Let's make it 10. 

Correa with that cannon of an arm and clutch hitting already making a difference. Now if Buxton can get hot we might have something. Looking at this team's recent success it's hard not to cringe when you think of what could have been if Royce Lewis was with this ballclub. 

Twins could have easily been down 0-2 in this series but these late rallies have been encouraging to see. 

The Boston series will be an interesting measuring stick. 

[Guest]

5 hours ago, VivaBomboRivera! said:

Well, it _is_ a long summer sausage. 😎

You’re killing me! 😵‍💫

[jmlease1]

When you're on a winning streak, every win is a good one. Any way to keep it rolling is awesome.

The bats were slow to get going, but ended up putting up 6. The bad luck with RISP from earlier in the season (when the Twins were almost unfathomly bad) is evening out. Work some walks, get some hits, pile up some runs.

Not the best outing from SWR, but he wasn't terrible. Still threw strikes. Bullpen had some wobbles too, but you can't expect them to shut everyone down every night. I mean, Sands has been awesome this season, but presuming he was never going to give up another dinger was unrealistic. But great to have Duran back; he seems ready to roll.

They've already won the series, on the road. Would love to see another sweep and push this streak to 10!

[MABB1959]

Starting to get excited again!  Hope they don't let us down

[JDubs]

Coming in to this series I joked the Twins should just keep rolling, sweep the Sox, and make it 10 in a row. Guess it was less a joke and more some prognostication.

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

I know it's 'only' the White Sox but it isn't easy beating a team 6 straight times within about a week's timeframe - and the Sox were riding a high after sweeping the Rays.

[jorgenswest]

7 hours ago, VivaBomboRivera! said:

Just curious, was Pham's double catchable if Castro had run a better route?

Shortcomings and all, I am starting to love this year's version of the ball club.

Statcast gave it an expected batting average of .530.

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

SWR needs a strikeout pitch - hopefully he can develop one because overall, he has pretty good stuff. 

[Peter]

Let’s make it 10 in a row!!! Last 2 games were 😬😬😬😬😬way to close and way to nervous. Yes it’s the white sox but they are tough as it doesn’t matter what records are especially in division games. Huge win last night-Let’s get sweep today!! Boston/Seattle and Toronto will be tough series. If we can go 6-3/5-4 I’ll be happy as may will be tough month with tough games. Twins are must watch/listen rest of season!!! Go Twins!!!

[Patzky]

9 hours ago, darwin22 said:

Situational hitting proved to be the difference tonight!

6-13 with RISP with nearly all of them being BIG hits to produce runs:

Farmer RBI double in 5th to tie game.  Correa 2-out RBI single smoked (110 exit velo) to tie game in 7th. Larnach: 2 strike RBI single to break 4-4 tie. Kepler with a huge AB in 9th producing a SF after falling in 2-strike hole.

Hopefully, with Duran back now we won't be forced seeing Sands in a high leverage situation  anytime soon.  Sands has  been effective this season, but NOT a RP I want to see trying to protect a 1-run lead in the 8th.

 

 

 

 

I just love that it's never the same guy on any given day. Margot and Farmer were integral to manufacturing runs tonight. Julien can have a birthday stinker when six or seven other guys step up. 

 

Yeah as Rocco burned through the arms last night (not his fault honestly) all I could imagine is, man we really could have used Bowman for one more night.

[stringer bell]

6 hours ago, Mark G said:

I would have liked to be a fly on the wall when the decision was made to let go of Bowman; that move is perplexing to me.  I, also, believe he will catch on with another team and, if I were him, I would decline the move to St. Paul and hook up somewhere else.  I guess brighter minds than mine will figure out that move, because I can't.  Someone educate me? 🤷‍♂️

He’s going to be 33 shortly and his peripherals are meh at best. Above average walk rate and below average K and whiff rates. There are several 40-man options in St. Paul including Topa (rehabbing). Barring another spate of injuries, I can’t see how he’ll be missed. Several of the guys at St. Paul can be optioned and Bowman can’t. 
 

Bowman is making $925K this year and would forfeit that salary if he declares free agency. I expect him to pass through and accept assignment at St. Paul (most on the site think he’ll be claimed). 
 

Yes, Bowman looked better than Jackson or Thielbar, but the sample sizes are tiny. 

[JD-TWINS]

9 hours ago, darwin22 said:

Situational hitting proved to be the difference tonight!

6-13 with RISP with nearly all of them being BIG hits to produce runs:

Farmer RBI double in 5th to tie game.  Correa 2-out RBI single smoked (110 exit velo) to tie game in 7th. Larnach: 2 strike RBI single to break 4-4 tie. Kepler with a huge AB in 9th producing a SF after falling in 2-strike hole.

Hopefully, with Duran back now we won't be forced seeing Sands in a high leverage situation  anytime soon.  Sands has  been effective this season, but NOT a RP I want to see trying to protect a 1-run lead in the 8th.

 

 

 

 

So, related to Sands, and his success this year. Are there many of us that think Varland, if used in 3-6 hitter stretches, out of the Pen, wouldn’t excel? He too may have a sub 2.00 ERA through 14 innings or whatever Sands has thrown. Not throwing shade on Sand’s efforts but he’s not the “let’s stretch him out” answer for the rotation any more than Varland.

[Dman]

SWR with a lot of pitches in very few innings. Reminds me of some of his AAA starts.  He almost made it 4 innings despite all the trouble and he gave up one earned run so he didn't kill the teams chances at a win.  Would be nice to see a few more K's in there to escape innings, but he'll have things to look at and improve on.  Just happy Rocco took him out when he did.

Funderburk gave Mendick a nice down the middle pitch and he didn't miss.  I don't like it when pitchers walk guys as it means the batter didn't need to work their way on and it ups the pitch count, but sometimes when the hitter knows a strike is likely coming they are ready and Mendick was.

Sometimes good pitches get hit.  Sands pitch low and inside was going to take perfect swing to be a HR and Benintendi got all of it.  Sands seemed to melt down after that.  I still think Sands has setup man in him, but you take your lumps in baseball.  Sometimes things just go sideways.  Again it was good for Rocco to make a change.

I thought once we were ahead our bullpen would shut the door, but it was one of those nights. It was nice to have Duran there to finish the 9th.  To be honest I wasn't sure if he would be completely ready for a tight spot like that just coming back, but was glad he got the job done for a much needed win after this teams slow start.

[jorgenswest]

6 hours ago, Mark G said:

I would have liked to be a fly on the wall when the decision was made to let go of Bowman; that move is perplexing to me.  I, also, believe he will catch on with another team and, if I were him, I would decline the move to St. Paul and hook up somewhere else.  I guess brighter minds than mine will figure out that move, because I can't.  Someone educate me? 🤷‍♂️

Do you suppose an .056 BABiP gave the impression that he was pitching well? His K/9 is lowest among those on the roster and his BB/9 is highest on the roster. 

[jorgenswest]

6 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

So, related to Sands, and his success this year. Are there many of us that think Varland, if used in 3-6 hitter stretches, out of the Pen, wouldn’t excel? He too may have a sub 2.00 ERA through 14 innings or whatever Sands has thrown. Not throwing shade on Sand’s efforts but he’s not the “let’s stretch him out” answer for the rotation any more than Varland.

I would assume Festa is number 6. Who are 7 and 8 if you rule out Varland and Sands? They will be needed.

[MN_ExPat]

2 hours ago, Verified Member said:

You’re killing me! 😵‍💫

Well then be prepared to...  meat your maker 😉