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 the fanbase's 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, the Twins made the call, and 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, now 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 saw a middle-middle heater and 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. 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, a beautifully stroked line drive that landed in front of the right fielder, 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:

Ryan Jeffers was the only batter to not earn a hit. He's slashing .221/.326/.299 in August.

With his 22nd homer of the season, Kody Clemens is four blasts away from tying his father's season-high in long balls allowed, set in his 2000 season with the Yankees.

Brooks Lee's 73 RBIs are good for 17th in the AL.

Clemens and Josh Bell were the only two players in the lineup not drafted by the Twins. The other seven players were drafted in either the first or second round by the franchise.

Taylor Rogers appeared in his 374th game as a Twin, the 11th-most in team history. He's two games away from tying Jim Perry and Jesse Crain, and he passed his coach, LaTroy Hawkins, earlier in the season. 

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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