Twins 4, White Sox 7: Walker Jenkins' Can't Do It All In Debut

[Matt Braun]

Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson - IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Box Score
Dean Kremer: 4+ IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
Home Runs: Brooks Lee (22), Kody Clemens (22)
Top 3 WPA: Dean Kremer (-.420), Ryan Jeffers (-.200), Luke Keaschall (-.140)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

Arduous and consternation-filled it may have been, Walker Jenkins’ journey has finally reached the majors. The former first round pick has taken a heroic mythos, fueled by a Bondsian August and the fanbase's general contempt for the stale play featured by the major league team in recent weeks. Surely, a change was in order. A burst of energy. A youthful resurgence. A mold-breaking decision. And so, the Twins made the call, and Jenkins took the 20-minute sojourn to Target Field and now looks to see if he can help right Minnesota’s sinking ship.

First innings portend much, with initial impressions and tone-setting and such. Dean Kremer coaxed two outs. A simple hanging cutter lashed into center gave Chicago a knock. An errant pitch advanced the runner to second. Andrew Benintendi singled barely beyond Kaelen Culpepper’s diving grasp? Unsurprising given his dominance in Target Field. Another single and a three-run homer? Well, now we’ve reached disaster territory on the 21st pitch of the game.

Fortunately, the Twins were in a responding mood, immediately attacking Luis Castillo with vigor and excitement. Luke Keaschall singled and Brooks Lee saw a middle-middle heater and smacked one of his trademark “just barely” homers to halve the deficit.

Two batters later, Kody Clemens swatted a solo homer for his first longball since the 16th, complete with a fanciful, accidentally well-coordinated bat flip.

That concluded the first’s action—a tame thing to say about a frame that oversaw seven total runs—yet the Twins weren’t done with pummeling Castillo. Trevor Larnach served a double into right field and two flyouts and a Keaschall HBP placed men on the corners with two outs. Lee pushed forth his third RBI of the game with a single poked beyond the shortstop’s lunging grasp.

Equaled matters soon untied. Kremer could not rest. White Sox hitters advanced with an appetite for hits. In the third, pairs; two doubles scored a go-ahead run. In the fourth, a sampler platter that ended with Tristan Peters on third, eventually dashing home on a passed ball.

Walker Jenkins earning his first major league hit marked a lone bright spot in this period. Indeed, his knock, a beautifully stroked line drive that landed in front of the right fielder, placed two on with no one out, but none scored. Then Castillo gave way to Hagen Smith, who found trouble in the sixth, but exited in favor of Grant Taylor, who elicited an unusual 3-2 double play, as Larnach skidded helplessly short of home plate.

Another run in the eighth buried the Twins even further—and they suddenly entered the ninth with six consecutive empty frames in their rearview mirror.

And little changed in the final inning. Singles by Kaelen Culpepper and Keaschall placed two on, and Minnesota left them where they were, with Lee lining out and Jeffers grounding out to end the game with a soft whimper.

Notes:

Ryan Jeffers was the only batter to not earn a hit. He's slashing .221/.326/.299 in August.

With his 22nd homer of the season, Kody Clemens is four blasts away from tying his father's season-high in long balls allowed, set in his 2000 season with the Yankees.

Brooks Lee's 73 RBIs are good for 17th in the AL.

Clemens and Josh Bell were the only two players in the lineup not drafted by the Twins. The other seven players were drafted in either the first or second round by the franchise.

Taylor Rogers appeared in his 374th game as a Twin, the 11th-most in team history. He's two games away from tying Jim Perry and Jesse Crain, and he passed his coach, LaTroy Hawkins, earlier in the season. 

Post-Game Interview:

 

What’s Next?
The Twins and White Sox play again Saturday, as Erick Fedde is set to start opposite Bailey Ober. Prose will turn purple with how each hurler simply “knows how to pitch.” First pitch is at 1:10 PM.

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	MON	TUE	WED	THUR	FRI	TOT
Rogers	0	0	0	0	38	38
Funderburk	0	0	18	0	18	36
Adams	0	0	0	0	26	26
Minter	0	23	0	0	0	23
Gomez	20	0	0	0	0	20
Morris	1	0	16	0	0	17
Nance	16	0	0	0	0	16
Hoffman	0	0	6	0	0	6

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[thelanges5]

The Twins giving up more runs than they score is becoming a disturbing trend. 

[LastOnePicked]

A little bounce-back fight early and just lifeless play late. Pretty much the entire season in just one game.

[LastOnePicked]

5 minutes ago, thelanges5 said:

The Twins giving up more runs than they score is becoming a disturbing trend. 

More often than not, that approach leads to losses.

[Vanimal46]

After 135 games last year, the Twins were 61-74. After 135 games this year we are 64-71. If we continue improving at this rate, we will be .500 in 2028 after the lockout. Book it. 

[ashbury]

12 minutes ago, thelanges5 said:

The Twins giving up more runs than they score is becoming a disturbing trend. 

6 minutes ago, LastOnePicked said:

More often than not, that approach leads to losses.

[LastOnePicked]

6 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

we will be .500 in 2028 after the lockout. Book it. 

We'll be 0-0 after the lockout, so that's a wise bet. That may be the only time we hit .500 that year, though.

[Peter]

Tough loss to start off critical stretch of 15 straight games against central division-Jenkins

first big league hit👍💪August has been ugly-twins need to snap out of losing skid!

[Wedman13]

I do not care aboit the outcome.....  Whoever from the WS blew up KC could have hurt him..  That was the moment Shelty, replay or not, could and should have stood - and that's the problem..  not one of you forget.  I do not care what you do but you have to know your boss will kill for you.  Torii blowing up the WS catcher.  Example.  As a leader you HAVE to inspire.  We are so damn blah.  He blew a fabulous chance.

[Nashvilletwin]

Cheer up everyone.  We now have four young players who appear to be legit major leaguers heading into next season: Lee, Keaschall, Culpepper and Jenkins.  Ideally by the time the Twins play games in 2027, ERod and Houston could join that group.  

That’s six really solid position players who could be in the starting lineup by the end of a strike shortened next season.  Heck, by the time real baseball starts up again in 2028, Lackey may be our starting C as well.  With Clemens (whom I think is a very solid multi-faceted major leaguer), Lewis (who else plays 1B, maybe an FA), and Buxton (alternating in his last year as DH and LF with Keaschall), we have a very solid and entertaining 2028 base roster.

Now let’s get ERod up here next week to finish off the season in RF next to Jenkins and Keaschall.

 

[Permanent Twins Fan]

Really encouraging debut from Walker Jenkins. This team has the makings to be really fun in 2027/2028, bit I don't think this is going to be the year. 4.0 games out of the wild card with 26 to go is a really steep obstacle. It has been a fun season and I will continue to watch and root hard for the Twins this season, but my focus has shifted a little bit to next season.* Jenkins, Culpepper, Keaschall, Lewis, Buxton, Clemens and Lee is a pretty exciting young offensive core. If you keep Lopez and Ryan around, they have a great rotation barring injuries (Lopez, Ryan, Bradley, Abel, Kremer/Prielipp), and the bullpen with a couple additions could be above average. Go Twins! 2028 World Series Champions! 

*Lockout Pending

[jkcarew]

4 games out of the wild card and 4 games from 13th place in a 15-team league. Where would the Twins be in the NL? Probably 13th. Maybe as high as 10th around the time of the deadline?…and we could have avoided the buying for the sake of buying charade. I don’t mind giving up upside prospects in trades if the club warrants it…and the trade has a chance of actually moving the needle. But, it didn’t, and it didn’t.

[LastOnePicked]

4 minutes ago, Nashvilletwin said:

We now have four young players who appear to be legit major leaguers heading into next season: Lee, Keaschall, Culpepper and Jenkins.

Once it was Buxton, Rosario, Polanco and Kepler.

Then it was Lewis, Kirilloff, Rooker and Larnach.

A farm system is supposed to produce legit major leaguers, and pretty much every team has four young guys very much like these four. But you need a pitching staff and a bullpen. And you need a FO capable of signing the right free agents.

I'm excited for these guys, I really am, but the last quartets of can't-miss prospects didn't win anything here. Not sure that I see anything different happening with this organization this time, either,

[Nashvilletwin]

10 minutes ago, LastOnePicked said:

Once it was Buxton, Rosario, Polanco and Kepler.

Then it was Lewis, Kirilloff, Rooker and Larnach.

A farm system is supposed to produce legit major leaguers, and pretty much every team has four young guys very much like these four. But you need a pitching staff and a bullpen. And you need a FO capable of signing the right free agents.

I'm excited for these guys, I really am, but the last quartets of can't-miss prospects didn't win anything here. Not sure that I see anything different happening with this organization this time, either,

The first four were actually very good.

We are yet to see ERod, but all the others seem like good bets for one reason or another.

[soyouresayingtheresachance]

Very rough night for Kremer. He just could not find a rhythm. 

Clemens and Lee with HRs. Kind of a fun little back and forth they have going on. 22 HRs apiece. Since moving to 3B, Lee has really turned his season around. 

Jenkins getting his 1st ML hit and walk. The moment most of us have been waiting for finally arrived. He sure looked like he belonged out there. 

Im hoping ERod is, at minimum, a September call up to get his 1st taste of the Bigs. More than deserving of a promotion at this point. Let him take over LF. Jenkins in CF. Keaschall in RF. 

Shut down Buxton and let him fix his hip. He hasn't looked right since July when he first got injured. Even if he plays, his bat has been terrible. 

Honestly, im ready to see a daily lineup of the future. 

LF- ERod

CF- Jenkins

RF- Keaschall 

3B- Lee

SS- Culpepper 

2B- Clemens

1B- Lewis

C- Jackson

Thats a lineup I'm ready to see. 

[Parfigliano]

7 minutes ago, soyouresayingtheresachance said:

Very rough night for Kremer. He just could not find a rhythm. 

Clemens and Lee with HRs. Kind of a fun little back and forth they have going on. 22 HRs apiece. Since moving to 3B, Lee has really turned his season around. 

Jenkins getting his 1st ML hit and walk. The moment most of us have been waiting for finally arrived. He sure looked like he belonged out there. 

Im hoping ERod is, at minimum, a September call up to get his 1st taste of the Bigs. More than deserving of a promotion at this point. Let him take over LF. Jenkins in CF. Keaschall in RF. 

Shut down Buxton and let him fix his hip. He hasn't looked right since July when he first got injured. Even if he plays, his bat has been terrible. 

Honestly, im ready to see a daily lineup of the future. 

LF- ERod

CF- Jenkins

RF- Keaschall 

3B- Lee

SS- Culpepper 

2B- Clemens

1B- Lewis

C- Jackson

Thats a lineup I'm ready to see. 

C- Lackey

Clemmens will be gone.

[Saxophone Joe]

Should’ve got like 7-8 runs off Castillo. He had nothing. Sigh. 😔 

Just a terrible game on all fronts from Jeffers. 

Song of the night on Yacht Rock Night: “What a Fool Believes.”

[DJL44]

They’re injecting too much hype too fast. If the kid isn’t immediately Willie Mays the backlash will be swift.. We are going to have every know it all on the call in shows calling Jenkins a bust.

[HarmonK03]

6 hours ago, soyouresayingtheresachance said:

Very rough night for Kremer. He just could not find a rhythm. 

Clemens and Lee with HRs. Kind of a fun little back and forth they have going on. 22 HRs apiece. Since moving to 3B, Lee has really turned his season around. 

Jenkins getting his 1st ML hit and walk. The moment most of us have been waiting for finally arrived. He sure looked like he belonged out there. 

Im hoping ERod is, at minimum, a September call up to get his 1st taste of the Bigs. More than deserving of a promotion at this point. Let him take over LF. Jenkins in CF. Keaschall in RF. 

Shut down Buxton and let him fix his hip. He hasn't looked right since July when he first got injured. Even if he plays, his bat has been terrible. 

Honestly, im ready to see a daily lineup of the future. 

LF- ERod

CF- Jenkins

RF- Keaschall 

3B- Lee

SS- Culpepper 

2B- Clemens

1B- Lewis

C- Jackson

Thats a lineup I'm ready to see. 

Jackson is a backup at best, let's not get excited about him, no one even claimed him when he was available.

[TJSweens]

Last year the White Sox went all in on their youth movement and are loving the results. The Twins need to continue their own youth movement. Get Emma up here. We need to see what he can do against major league pitching and time is running out. Move Houston up to AAA. We need to see him next year (assuming there is a next year).

[MeleMouth]

Meanwhile in Baltimore, many people are going, "That's the Kremer we knew! We're so glad the Twins talked themselves into being able to fix him!"

[DJL44]

7 hours ago, soyouresayingtheresachance said:

RF- Keaschall 

Yuck

[AceBee]

If it continues to go south (no pun intended) over the weekend, at least we will be spared pretty early  know we have no hopes for contention.. Spend time wisely on improving young stars

[just-a-fan]

Will the real Dean Kremer please stand up?

[MeleMouth]

24 minutes ago, AceBee said:

If it continues to go south (no pun intended) over the weekend, at least we will be spared pretty early  know we have no hopes for contention.. Spend time wisely on improving young stars

This should have been the goal for the whole year, with eyes focused on 2027 and 2028, but instead they talked themselves into the mythical "competitive rebuild," where you sorta look like you're rebuilding and sorta look like you're competing, but don't really do either one well. 

[Saxophone Joe]

9 hours ago, Wedman13 said:

I do not care aboit the outcome.....  Whoever from the WS blew up KC could have hurt him..  That was the moment Shelty, replay or not, could and should have stood - and that's the problem..  not one of you forget.  I do not care what you do but you have to know your boss will kill for you.  

Yup. That’s what Billy Martin would’ve done. 

Wonder if a Twins pitcher will send a message to Vargas today, if the opportunity arises? 

[DJL44]

If the White Sox win the series they can probably stick a fork in the Twins. There are only 25 games left after this series. 7 games under with 25 games left means they need to go 16-9 to reach .500.

[Saxophone Joe]

5 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

If the White Sox win the series they can probably stick a fork in the Twins. There are only 25 games left after this series. 7 games under with 25 games left means they need to go 16-9 to reach .500.

Absolutely 💯 NEED to win the next two games to keep any semblance of hope alive. Lose today or tomorrow and that’s a wrap, folks. Roll credits. 

[chpettit19]

10 hours ago, Wedman13 said:

I do not care aboit the outcome.....  Whoever from the WS blew up KC could have hurt him..  That was the moment Shelty, replay or not, could and should have stood - and that's the problem..  not one of you forget.  I do not care what you do but you have to know your boss will kill for you.  Torii blowing up the WS catcher.  Example.  As a leader you HAVE to inspire.  We are so damn blah.  He blew a fabulous chance.

 

36 minutes ago, Saxophone Joe said:

Yup. That’s what Billy Martin would’ve done. 

Wonder if a Twins pitcher will send a message to Vargas today, if the opportunity arises? 

"Blew up?" "Send a message?" We're talking about the play where Vargas slid 3 feet short of KC and he gently, but slightly awkwardly, stepped over him after his throw? My goodness, you guys would need to do a lot of "message sending" if that's all it takes. Shelton would've looked like a fool on the field going crazy over that, and Jeffers, Jenkins, Keaschall, pick your favorite Twins hitter, wearing 100 in the ribs would be awfully upset with any pitcher who caused it by throwing at Vargas.

[DJL44]

14 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

"Blew up?" "Send a message?"

That garbage talk is someone being a sore loser.

“I am mad they lost so the Twins should violently attack the White Sox on the field”.

That sentiment sounds dumber when I restate it like that.