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

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 a 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, 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, 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 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. Dean 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 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:

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.

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