Twins Video
Box Score:
Starting Pitcher: Sonny Gray: 6 IP 7 H 2 ER 1 BB 4 SO (88 Pitches, 59 Strikes, 67%)
Home Runs: none
Top 3 WPA: Christian Vázquez (.350), Carlos Correa (.202), Jhoan Duran (.156)
Win Probability Chart (Via Fangraphs):
Coming off a string of starts that would have been great save for a random 20-25 pitch stretch during which he completely lost command, Sonny Gray was looking to stay consistent against a struggling White Sox team.
Gray loaded the bases in the first inning, giving up singles to Andrew Benintendi and Eloy Jimenez, walking Yasmani Grandal and getting Tim Anderson to line out at 102 MPH.
The White Sox scored the first run of the game on a mental lapse from Gray, Vazquez and Edouard Julien. With one out and runners on the corners, Luis Robert got a great jump stealing second. Christian Vazquez decided to try and throw him out, and Julien tried to apply the tag rather than cutting the ball off and throwing home, allowing Tim Anderson to score from third. Grandal then singled home Robert on a middle-middle changeup to make the score 2-0.
Gray settled down after that, his command of his breaking pitches improving as the game went on. He also avoided the blow-up inning, giving the Twins a quality start and keeping them in the game against an excellent mound opponent.
Dylan Cease turns the clock back to 2022
The Fox broadcast interviewed Lucas Giolito during the second inning, who was asked what Cease needs to do to pitch like he did in 2022, when he finished second in the AL Cy Young voting. Giolito said all Cease had to do was command his fastball, and his slider would become unhittable. That statement did prove somewhat prophetic. In the third inning, Cease threw a fastball right down the middle that Vazquez cracked for an opposite field double, and allowed a run-scoring double to Carlos Correa on a fat knuckle-curve, his third pitch and one he generally uses to get hitters to not sit on his slider. He then struck out the Twins’ best hitters of late, Julien and Alex Kirilloff on filthy breaking pitches (after getting ahead with the fastball) to escape the jam.
He too settled in, relying more on his slider, spotting his fastball and dominating at-bats. He allowed a leadoff walk to Correa in the sixth, but retired Julien on a painted fastball 3-2, got Kirilloff to pop out on the first pitch, and though Max Kepler had a couple of long fly balls against Cease, he flied out weakly to left field, ending whatever threat there was.
Seventh Inning goes quite well
After Jordan Balazovic pitched an effective top of the seventh, the Twins went to work against Keynan Middleton, a scrap heap pickup who has, with the help of a dominant changeup, pitched himself into being traded to a contender in the next week or so. Buxton drew a walk, stole second, and then Kyle Farmer got a swinging bunt single to bring up Vázquez with two men on and one out, knocking Middleton out of the game. Facing ground ball specialist Gregory Santos, Vazquez jumped on the first pitch, a 99 MPH sinker, and nearly hit a three run home run, the ball bouncing off the top of the padding in left center field, resulting in a double and scoring Buxton to tie the game. Michael A. Taylor followed with an excellent at-bat against Santos, trying to bunt with the count 2-1, and fouling off pitches until he got a center cut sinker at 101 MPH that he drove up the middle for a single that gave the Twins the lead.
Jax Bends, does not Break
Griffin Jax got the eighth inning, and immediately put himself into trouble, giving up a leadoff double to Luis Robert, who fought off a fastball up and in and was rewarded with a 68 mph double. After a walk, Jax was able to settle in, getting a grounder from Grandal and a jam-shot pop-up from Jake Burger. He then struck out pinch hitter Gavin Sheets on a gorgeous sweeper to end the inning. Manager Rocco Baldelli made the curious decision to sub Donovan Solano for Edouard Julien to start the eighth, a minor defensive improvement, but one that left the Twins with Max Kepler and Matt Wallner leading off the bottom of the eighth against lefty buzz saw reliever Aaron Bummer, who set down the two lefty hitters easily before retiring Byron Buxton.
Duran shuts the Door
The ninth inning started ominously, with rookie Oscar Colas hitting a chopper up the middle off of Jhoan Duran, a do-or-die play that Correa mishandled. Duran rebounded to strike out Carlos Perez and Benintendi, before allowing a perfectly placed infield single to Tim Anderson. That brought up Robert who struck out on a high fastball to end the game.
What’s Next:
Bailey Ober (6-4, 2.74 ERA) faces off against Lucas Giolito (6-6, 3.96) as the Twins look to take the sweep. Ober has been the Twins' most consistent starter this year, if not the best, and looks to continue that run of success. Giolito has had a couple of clunkers this year, but overall the changeup specialist has rebounded from a tough 2022 to become a sought-after trade chip for the south siders. A sweep would be the first non-Athletics/Royals sweep of the year for the Twins.
Postgame Interviews:
(Coming soon)
Bullpen Usage Chart:
| TUE | WED | THU | FRI | SAT | TOT | |
| Durán | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 41 |
| Pagán | 8 | 11 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 34 |
| Jax | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 31 |
| J. López | 0 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| Morán | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 22 |
| Balazovic | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 22 |
| Sands | 17 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Ortega | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
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