Twins 1, White Sox 4: Little Good on the South Side of Chicago

[Matt Braun]

Image courtesy of Matt Marton, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Box Score
Zebby Matthews: 5 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
Home Runs: Josh Bell (18)
Bottom 3 WPA: Zebby Matthews (-.180), Luke Keaschall (-.110), Ryan Jeffers (-.090)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)

 

Good and bad. Yin and yang. However you like to interpret the internal battle in all of us, the concept is never more apparent than in a Zebby Matthew start. One day, excellence; another, the ugly flipside of a hurler with a penchant for homers. Seemingly a preference for punishment. His last start against the White Sox nearly resulted in a complete game shutout, while Friday’s affair resulted in turned heads, exalted cheers from the home crowd, and roaring music accompanying a plethora of home run trots.

First, the first: an initial blast by Miguel Vargas in the game’s opening frame, a tone setter. Then, a Braden Montgomery shot in the second. Chicago skipped the third - how kind of them - just to return in the fourth with a two-run long ball off the bat of Colson Montgomery, who’s already developing a Twin-killing reputation early in his young career. 

The 4-0 deficit was already a tough endeavor, and it was made worse by the Big Bad Wolf standing on the mound for the White Sox: Erick Fedde. The monster. A 6’4” 205-pound terror of finesse pitching that no lineup bearing a Twins insignia can figure out, no matter their makeup. He would shut out the 1927 Yankees, if they bore Minnesota jerseys. And he worked his magic once more, surrendering a scattering of baserunners across five innings, but holding the team scoreless as they once more struggled to find the big hit against him. 

Or against anyone, for that matter. The lively, young offense that pulverized the Tigers, and necessitated an unchanged lineup for nearly a week, showed little vigor. Fedde begat Hagen Smith, who begat Bryan Hudson, all of whom were anathema to Minnesota on Friday. Their collection of singles and walks proved impotent, contrasted with Chicago’s three mighty dingers.

Finally, some action arrived in the ninth against the best White Sox pitcher of the night. Go figure. Josh Bell launched a thunderous solo home run, and Royce Lewis doubled after a Gabriel Gonzalez ground out. Another worm-burner by Kaelen Culpepper gave the Twins one final out. Walker Jenkins walked, and Luke Keaschall hit an ordinary fly ball to right to end Minnesota's tepid rally. 

 

Notes:

Kody Clemens is slashing .292/.400/.667 in his last seven games.

Josh Bell's 84 RBIs are his fourth-most in a single-season.

Taylor Rogers tied Jesse Crain and Jim Perry for the ninth-most games pitched in a Twins uniform at 376.

Kaelen Culpepper stole his first MLB base on Friday. 

Post-Game Interview:

What’s Next?
The Twins and White Sox meet at Guaranteed Rate Field for a Saturday brouhaha, with Taj Bradley scheduled to start opposite left-hander Anthony Kay. First pitch is at 6:10 PM. 

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet

	MON	TUE	WED	THUR	FRI	TOT
Nance	26	0	33	0	0	59
Acton	0	39	0	0	18	57
Morris	0	29	0	0	0	29
Funderburk	0	0	29	0	0	29
Rogers	0	0	7	0	19	26
Minter	0	0	17	0	0	17
Gomez	0	0	15	0	0	15
Hoffman	0	0	13	0	0	13
Adams	0	9	3	0	0	12

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[thelanges5]

11-19 since Aug 1. Been fun but no playoffs for these guys. Let’s see what we got for 2027. 

[thelanges5]

Guardos Devil Magic with two walk-offs today. 👹

[Linus]

Zebby has been pretty good for a 4th / 5th starter. 

[soyouresayingtheresachance]

Another lifeless effort. 

 

[singlesoverwalks]

Starting to realize that maybe the White Sox are better than the Twins. 

[D.C Twins]

White Sox are South-Side of Chicago.... were the Twins somehow sucking on the North-Side of Chicago as well in absentia?  I mean... I wouldn't put it past them, but just curious

[D.C Twins]

2 hours ago, thelanges5 said:

11-19 since Aug 1. Been fun but no playoffs for these guys. Let’s see what we got for 2027. 

Would have been more fun with a couple additional good prospects and a couple additional losses for a better draft position.... and a better/longer look at the young prospects.... and the not-so-young questionable prospects that we will be losing to MiLB free agency. 

[knothole61]

The Sox are rolling but that was a lackluster effort. Suddenly we are 4.5 back of the last wild card after the Guardians invoked their deal with the Devil again...man, it seems like they've played at home for about six weeks!

Yep, the days are growing shorter and soon the first tinges of yellow will dot the trees. The State Fair is drawing to an end. football is in the air, and I'm hearing that voice deep inside calling out as it has for so many, many years: "Turn the page, man...it's time to turn the page." And yet, I can't. Maybe it's because I'm so aware now that the current season may be the last for me, but I think it's something else; I think it's because I like this team, especially having watched the kids struggle and grow, and because the AL is still pretty weak, and finally because it's baseball and no game is more bizarre or unpredictable. Heck, this is nothing that a 10-game winning streak won't solve. 

 

 

[David HK]

1 hour ago, D.C Twins said:

White Sox are South-Side of Chicago.... were the Twins somehow sucking on the North-Side of Chicago as well in absentia?  I mean... I wouldn't put it past them, but just curious

They sucked so hard they did on both ends of the Red Line, from 35th to Addison. 😅

Those last 2 games, playoff teams find a way to win. The Guardos got it done, twice today. That's why they'll probably get to the promised land, and we'll be watching the Gophers. 

[Mai.K]

I still had hope, but after today, I’m slowly reaching the point where I’m starting to give up.

Looking back on the season, I feel like those two losses to Dobnak were just devastating...

I never thought Dobnak would pitch this well...

[Peter]

Sox are legit!!! Better then I thought-twins need to win this series but I’ll still watch them every game this season no matter what-I’ll be ready for football when World Series is over with. This is great learning experience for the kids as it will get them ready for next season and beyond-next year will be better as will future seasons with the talent we have 

[Patzky]

6 hours ago, D.C Twins said:

White Sox are South-Side of Chicago.... were the Twins somehow sucking on the North-Side of Chicago as well in absentia?  I mean... I wouldn't put it past them, but just curious

Red Line suckage. 

[DJL44]

9 hours ago, Linus said:

Zebby has been pretty good for a 4th / 5th starter. 

Unfortunately “pretty good” leaves them out of the playoffs. They need excellent starting pitching if they want to win 15 of the next 21 games.

[mikelink45]

I have not believed in the wild card for the last two weeks.  We are missing something.  And I hope we are not stuck in that almost good rut with poor draft position and lacking the kind of fire power that the Sox seems to have amassed. 

I wonder where the next real catcher comes from and if our injured pitchers really promise to come back and lead us to the promised land.

Walker surprises me with his struggles, but he has to keep playing to get through them.  I keep hoping for a Willie Mays kind of revelation - SABR has this biographical note on Willie - "If you begin your National League career going hitless in three road games, you may as well go for broke and swing mightily early in your first home game. That’s what Willie Mays did against the Boston Braves." 

So let Jenkins swing for that first hard contact and get on a roll for next year. 

[DJL44]

2 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

Walker surprises me with his struggles

 

It should not surprise anyone. A rookie struggling in their first major league games is the most likely scenario.

[Whitey333]

Matthew's has been good for the Twins this year.  Plus he was 5-0 with an ERA under three for the month of August.  The 4-1 loss was more of their lackluster hitting.  Zebby is good as a 4th or 5th starter!

[Jack Pine]

The guys played like they have already booked their end of September Tee times.

[thelanges5]

2 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Unfortunately “pretty good” leaves them out of the playoffs. They need excellent starting pitching if they want to win 15 of the next 21 games.

Don’t forget about the offense. Other than the two big games against the Tigers they are almost a half run per game below league average since the ASG. 

[LastOnePicked]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

And I hope we are not stuck in that almost good rut with poor draft position and lacking the kind of fire power that the Sox seems to have amassed. 

This is how middling teams remain middling teams - I think this is precisely where Tom Pohlad's offseason indecision is going to leave this team for years to come.

The only hope now is to bring in some incredible coaching/development talent. But Tom won't have a clue who those people are in MLB or MiLB.

[SE23]

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

It should not surprise anyone. A rookie struggling in their first major league games is the most likely scenario.

He's got 23 AB's. Lets give him 1200-1500 more before we pass judgement.

[DJL44]

7 minutes ago, SE23 said:

He's got 23 AB's. Let’s give him 1200-1500 more before we pass judgement.

Who is passing judgement? Byron Buxton struggled in his first major league games. So did many, many other successful players. Rookies who come up and perform immediately are the exception.

[David Maro]

Glad football is back because the Twins season has ended!!

[Matt Braun]

8 hours ago, D.C Twins said:

White Sox are South-Side of Chicago.... were the Twins somehow sucking on the North-Side of Chicago as well in absentia?  I mean... I wouldn't put it past them, but just curious

Geography was never a strength of mine 

[1985Fan]

16 minutes ago, SE23 said:

He's got 23 AB's. Lets give him 1200-1500 more before we pass judgement.

We should pass judgement on the idea that calling up prospects during a playoff chase to give the “team a jolt to the offense” as I read here so many times. It’s unfair to Jenkins and others. And it doesn’t work. Prospects need time to figure out MLB pitching, if they ever do figure it out. No guarantees they turn into All Stars or ROY either. 

[Nashvilletwin]

5 hours ago, Mai.K said:

I still had hope, but after today, I’m slowly reaching the point where I’m starting to give up.

Looking back on the season, I feel like those two losses to Dobnak were just devastating...

I never thought Dobnak would pitch this well...

The two (karmaesque) losses to Dobnak were not the most consequential games this season in terms of impact to the Twins; rather, the two ridiculous come-from-behind wins in July will prove to be much more deleterious to the team’s long-term prospects.

Those two unlikely wins were the catalysts that perpetuated the delusion that this was a team of destiny that could compete for a meaningful playoff run this summer and prevented the team from trading the few valuable assets we had (Ryan, Jeffers, Larnach and maybe Buxton) to build for the future. Now, the reality is apparent and the opportunity to receive any meaningful return on those assets is gone. All the team got back from those wins was a fleeting month of excitement and two weeks or so of positive PR for our owner.

 

[D.C Twins]

Just wanted to add that the south side Chicago comments were made when the original article title had North-Side for those confused this AM :)

[HarmonK03]

1 hour ago, LastOnePicked said:

This is how middling teams remain middling teams - I think this is precisely where Tom Pohlad's offseason indecision is going to leave this team for years to come.

The only hope now is to bring in some incredible coaching/development talent. But Tom won't have a clue who those people are in MLB or MiLB.

Tom P.'s role is to bring in a baseball executive to lead the organization to identify a plan needed to make the team a sustainable contender.  Then he needs to allocate the resources and get out of the way. 

[HarmonK03]

44 minutes ago, Nashvilletwin said:

prevented the team from trading the few valuable assets we had (Ryan, Jeffers, Larnach and maybe Buxton)

Buxton was not willing to be traded at the deadline, why keep beating this dead horse.

[LastOnePicked]

11 minutes ago, HarmonK03 said:

Tom P.'s role is to bring in a baseball executive to lead the organization to identify a plan needed to make the team a sustainable contender. 

Completely agree. Where are we at with that?