White Sox 12, Twins 3: Woof.

Box Score
SP: Simeon Woods Richardson 5.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K (85 pitches, 52 strikes (61%))
Home Runs: N/A
Bottom 3 WPA: Thomas Hatch (-.408), Woods Richardson (-.080), Mickey Gasper (-.073)

Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) 
 

In order to stay out of the AL Central cellar, the Twins need to (eventually) stop losing to the current cellar-dwelling White Sox. Simeon Woods Richardson got the call to stop the bleeding on Tuesday night. Young righty Davis Martin took the hill for the White Sox for his third start this season versus the Twins. In Martin's first two outings, he gave up only two earned runs over 10 innings. Could the Twins offense finally figure out Martin, or would tonight be another reminder of just how far the Twins have fallen?

Buxton Starts the Scoring, and the Twins Lead Early
After Woods Richardson took care of business in the top of the first, Byron Buxton took Martin off the left field wall for a lead-off triple. Trevor Larnach wasted no time, knocking in Buxton to stake the Twins to an early 1-0 lead. That lead lasted all of 15 minutes, before Andrew Benintendi hit a laser beam homer off the dock in right to knot it up again in the second.

The Twins looked to be on their way back out into the field in the bottom of the second, but Mickey Gasper worked a walk, and then—amazingly—stole a base! After winning the challenge and reversing the out call at second, Ryan Fitzgerald blooped a single to left to score Gasper and re-take the lead, 2-1. Things hummed right along from there until Martin ran into some trouble in the bottom of the fourth. Kody Clemens led off with a single, Austin Martin followed suit, and James Outman walked to load the bases with nobody out. Gasper came to the plate looking for a knockout blow, but instead, the Twins got the same gaffes that have plagued them all season. Gasper hit a shallow pop fly to left that was deep enough to score Clemens to bump the lead up to 3-1, but Martin got caught trying to snag third in the process. From bases loaded and nobody out to a runner at first with two outs. Rally killed.

Errors Pile Up, White Sox Pile On
With the lead now at two runs, the Twins hoped that pitching and defense could hold the line. They couldn't. Brooks Baldwin led off the top of the fifth with a walk, and then Will Robertson hit a ball to Woods Richardson that should have been an easy out, but a throwing error resulted in runners at first and third with nobody out instead. Two pitches later, Bryan Ramos tattooed a 93-mph center-cut fastball for a two-run double off the top of the big wall in right. All tied again, 3-3.

Martin kept taking care of his pitching duties past the fifth inning, while Woods Richardson's night was done after five. Thomas Hatch came in to keep the game tied, but instead, another lead-off walk and a fielding error (Austin Martin this time) led to two more Chicago runs on a pair of Benintendi and Baldwin singles. While the Twins' Martin was struggling mightily, the White Sox's Martin kept dealing in the sixth. This set up Chicago for another offensive outburst in the top of the seventh. Kyle Teel started things off with a homer off of Hatch, and then Lenyn Sosa went back-to-back. Suddenly, it was 7-3 cellar dwellers. Hatch got Colson Montgomery to strike out, but then he surrendered three straight singles to load up the bases with only one out. Will Robertson came to the plate and he got jammed. But the ball fell innocently in front of Matt Wallner, and two more Chicago runs scored. With (still) nobody in the bullpen, Hatch was on the hook for this stinker; he managed to wiggle out of the inning "only" down 9-3.

Where Can it Go From Here?
The good news, Davis Martin finally left the game after six innings. The bad news is that they put in a lefty, Bryan Hudson. Larnach took him off the top of the right-field wall for a double with two outs, but Lee struck out to strand him there. Noah Davis got his chance for redemption in the top of the eighth, in his first game back since September call-ups. Davis hit the first batter, got a couple of strikeouts on full counts and surrendered a single on another. With two on and two out, Benintendi hit an 83-mph sweeper that didn't sweep way out to right to make it 12-3. Brooks Kriske got the ninth, and he struggled but held the White Sox scoreless after a lucky/amazing between-the-legs snag of a 108-mph grounder. The Twins' offense decided to keep their scoreless inning streak alive and well as they headed into Wednesday. 

How bad was this game for the Twins? There wasn't a single highlight on social media once the game started. Not. One. They let dogs into the ballpark tonight in an attempt to get fans to show up, and hopefully those folks brought a lot of pooper scoopers to clean up the field as well.

What’s Next?
The Twins take their third crack at trying to win a game at home against the worst team in the American League on Wednesday. Minnesota will turn to RHP Zebby Matthews (4-4, 5.06 ERA), while Chicago will start RHP Yoendrys Gomez (3-2, 5.20 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 pm CDT.

Postgame Interviews

Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet