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

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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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