White Sox 8, Twins 0: Twins Get Shut Out For The First Time This Season In Loss To White Sox

[Sherry Cerny]

Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

Box Score
SP: Taj Bradley - 4.2 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 5 BB, 5 K (104 pitches, 63 strikes (72% strikes)
Home Runs: None
Bottom 3 WPA: Taj Bradley (-0.24); Austin Martin (-0.05); Byron Buxton (-0.05)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)


Taj Bradley had his third appearance since returning from the injured list on Wednesday, and the first inning was an utter disaster. Bradley gave up two walks and two singles, allowing four runs and giving the White Sox a 4-0 head start in the game. 

Bradley struggled through five innings in an exhausting pattern: loading the bases, walking players, but with the rest of his appearance scoreless, he was pulled as he just eclipsed the 100-pitch mark. The defense behind him was no help, from a key error by Tristan Gray at shortstop to a mistimed leap at the wall by Austin Martin.

Eric Orze replaced Bradley, followed by Taylor Rogers. Both pitchers gave up no runs and provided chances for the offense to close the 5-0 gap, but Cody Laweryson gave up three runs, sucking the life right out of the game as the White Sox extended their lead to 8-0.

The Twins offense struggled as much as the pitching. There was no type of movement until the bottom of the sixth for the Twins. The little bit of life came from Luke Keaschall, who delivered the Twins their first hit on a two-out single, followed by another single from Gray. But a groundout to short from Orlando Arcia forced an out, ending the small two-out rally. 

The Twins tried to get a bite of the White Sox bullpen in the seventh, with a single from Josh Bell, but the lineup behind Bell just couldn’t get any production, leaving him stranded. Every rally was short-lived.

The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same
The White Sox have exposed the Twins' new setup’s weaknesses on the field with their bats and their speed. The Twins have made a lot of adjustments, with Royce Lewis being sent down to Triple-A St. Paul, and everyone is slowly locking in. Gray committed three errors Wednesday. Plenty of other plays seemed to elude the team's gloves; they're no more rangy than they are sure-handed.

A Valiant Effort
The Twins did keep the game a bit more under control late than might have been the case. Though he wobbled, new arm Justin Lawrence showed the nastiness that made the team want to acquire him via trade in his late appearance. In a blowout, Derek Shelton put in better defenders (James Outman for the hampered Byron Buxton in center; Ryan Kreidler for Gray at short) and the team played respectably late. It was just too little to make the game feel remotely within reach.

Lawrence struck out his first hitter, but plunked the next two. Suddenly, he had two men on base. He got out of the inning with no damage, except a few bruises on the opposition. One last valiant rally gave the Twins a chance to avoid their first shutout defeat of 2026, but they couldn't break through. No matter. There are no moral victories, they say.

What’s Next?
The Royals come to town for a four-game weekender beginning Thursday. The Twins will send Andrew Morris to the mound at the front end of what is essentially a bullpen game; the Royals counter with eight-figure veteran signee Seth Lugo. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 PM CT.

Postgame Interviews 

Coming soon.

Bullpen Availability Chart 

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[Peter]

Sox are real deal!! I’ll take the series win!!! Easily could’ve been swept! 

[C-Gangster]

Just now, Peter said:

Sox are real deal!! I’ll take the series win!!! Easily could’ve been swept! 

Peter! Go clean you're room!

[Nshore]

You pay $70 dollars for a ticket to see the team basically phone it in.  With the brutal economy among other things, then they wonder why attendance isn't better. And it isn't just the Twins.  Greed is strangling the game. Go watch the Saints.

[bean5302]

3 singles, 2 walks and honestly an fielding error on Tristan Gray which allowed the 4th run to score on what should have been an inning ending double play. The announcer says it wasn't well played by Bradley because he didn't look back the runner at 3rd, but that was a guaranteed double play if Gray is actually in position or ready to field the ball.

Gray with another fielding error leading to a run in the 6th. With a decent fielder out there, Bradley leaves with 6.0 innings and 3ER.

Laweryson threw 7 of his first 8 pitches as fastballs and the White Sox jumped on them. His 6th pitch he served up an 83mph meatball changeup which got quickly deposited in the seats. Not gonna make it throwing 80% fastballs in this league.

All that said, the Twins made Fedde look pretty good. The White Sox scattered 5 hits and a walk, and last time I checked, 0 runs doesn't win many games.

[thelanges5]

Buzzkill. They sure know how to kill the good vibes. Last week they start by winning 4 out of 5 and then lose 5 straight. This week they take two and then **** the bed today. Painful!

[soyouresayingtheresachance]

After a beating like that, its hard to remember we actually won the series. 

I know Gray is 5th on the team in RBIs but maybe SS isn't for him. I would really like to see more of Kriedler at SS. He is a better defender than every starter on the team except catcher and probably Buxton. He may not hit a ton but he'll catch the darn ball. 

[KirbyDome89]

Taj was erratic, there's no other way to spin it. 7 hits and 5 walks in less than 5 IP, he's lucky Chicago only got him for 4 ER. 

Idk what they do with Caratini but at some point you can't continue to play a guy who is this bad both offensively and defensively. He's a soon to be 33 year old catcher, how much positive regression can we  realistically hope for here? 

[Parfigliano]

43 minutes ago, soyouresayingtheresachance said:

After a beating like that, its hard to remember we actually won the series. 

I know Gray is 5th on the team in RBIs but maybe SS isn't for him. I would really like to see more of Kriedler at SS. He is a better defender than every starter on the team except catcher and probably Buxton. He may not hit a ton but he'll catch the darn 

....."I would really like to see more of Kriedler..."  No team that ever won anything ever said.

[Vanimal46]

1 hour ago, Nshore said:

You pay $70 dollars for a ticket among other the things, to see the team basically phone it in.  With the brutal economy among other things, then they wonder why attendance isn't better. And it isn't just the Twins.  Greed is strangling the game. Go watch the Saints.

There’s more interesting talent in St Paul than the big league club IMO. 

[mrguy]

I'm going to guess tomorrow, Morris goes 1 maybe 2 innings with Paredes taking the bulk 3-4, maybe 5 if he's efficient enough with Adams or Gomez finishing the game depending on the results? 3 back to back younger arms handling the bullpen game would be an interesting assessment to see where the depth is at this moment in time.

[Patzky]

1 hour ago, Nshore said:

You pay $70 dollars for a ticket among other the things, to see the team basically phone it in.  With the brutal economy among other things, then they wonder why attendance isn't better. And it isn't just the Twins.  Greed is strangling the game. Go watch the Saints.

Why didn't you go last night? 😁

[Nshore]

2 minutes ago, Patzky said:

Why didn't you go last night? 😁

It used to be a blue collar game.  Not any more.

[SteveLV]

I think it is time for Mr. Culpepper to come to Minneapolis.

[Vanimal46]

8 minutes ago, mrguy said:

I'm going to guess tomorrow, Morris goes 1 maybe 2 innings with Paredes taking the bulk 3-4, maybe 5 if he's efficient enough with Adams or Gomez finishing the game depending on the results? 3 back to back younger arms handling the bullpen game would be an interesting assessment to see where the depth is at this moment in time.

I’d rather see Morris go as long as he can instead, but you’re probably right. Paredes could have a disaster outing and really tax the bullpen. 

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, Nshore said:

You pay $70 dollars for a ticket to see the team basically phone it in.  With the brutal economy among other things, then they wonder why attendance isn't better. And it isn't just the Twins.  Greed is strangling the game. Go watch the Saints.

I don’t think I have ever paid $70 for a Twins ticket.