Twins 4, White Sox 2: The Machine Set To Attack Mode

Twins 4, White Sox 2

Box Score

Win Expectancy (via Fangraphs)

Machine is typically spelled maquina in Spanish, but it’s pretty easy to see where Berrios gets the K from. Jose was tremendous, striking out eight batters while giving up two runs on just four hits. He was aggressive all night, as he fell behind 1-0 on only eight batters and 2-0 once. He issued just one free pass.

In eight starts this season, Berrios has given up more than two runs only twice. The few times he pitched well last season, he still struggled to go deep into games, as he threw six innings just once over 14 starts. This season, he’s averaging 6.75 innings per start.

Here was how he attacked hitters on the first pitch tonight:

And how he finished them off for strike three (all of which came on swings):

Sano hit an epic opposite field homer in the third inning. After that, the White Sox had seen about enough, and intentionally walked him in his next two at bats. Here’s more on the Sano shot:

https://twitter.com/TheRenderMLB/status/877697551662821376

The Twins left 12 men on base, but luckily it didn’t matter. Ehire Adrianza stole three bases and Brandon Kintzler picked up his 19th save. Max Kepler had two hits .. both of them off a lefty (gasp!).

Postgame With Molitor

https://twitter.com/fsnorth/status/877732907388813313

Postgame With Berrios

https://twitter.com/fsnorth/status/877734538981498881

Bullpen Usage

Here’s a quick look at the number of pitches thrown by the bullpen over the past five days:

Thursday

Twins (Nik Turley, 12.46 ERA) vs. White Sox (Jose Quintana, 5.07 ERA), 12:10 pm CT,

Quintana is having the worst year of his career. The lefty is averaging 3.5 BB/9, over a walk above his career average. His HR/9 is also at a career-worst 1.3. Turley gets another shot to show he belongs in the rotation. Over his first two starts, he’s given up 12 runs on 17 hits and four walks over 8.2 innings.

AL Central Standings

Cleveland 38-32

Twins 36-33 (-1.5)

Kansas City 35-36 (-3.5)

Detroit 32-38 (-6)

Chicago 31-39 (-7)

Make sure to also check out today’s Minor League Report, which has updates on the rehabbing Hector Santiago and Phil Hughes.