Twins Video
Box Score
SP: Zebby Matthews - 6 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K (84 pitches, 55 strikes (65%))
Home Runs: None
Bottom 3 WPA: Justin Topa (-0.641), James Outman (-0.163), Luke Keaschall (-0.145)
Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs)
Zebby Matthews pitched last against San Diego, and had probably one of his best outings of the season. Matthews was locked in early against the White Sox, setting them down 1-2-3. On the other side, the bats for the Twins have been swinging back into form, with 25 runs in the last five games. Alas, in this series in particular, the White Sox had already twice found ways to make that not matter. The team's best hope was to split the four-game series.
Trevor Larnach created momentum in the first inning with a single to center field and waited patiently for his turn to go. With a 3-2 count on Luke Keaschall, he was off with the pitch, and a Keaschall double that reached the left-field wall scored him easily from first. Matt Wallner then singled to right, and Keaschall scampered home when the ball was misplayed by a charging Brooks Baldwin.
The White Sox answered with a second-inning solo homer by Edgar Quero, but Matthews then put it in cruise control. The score held at 2-1 until the sixth, despite a leadoff triple by Byron Buxton in the fifth. He was cut down on a Keaschall dribbler to the pitcher, trying to score. Matt Wallner stranded Keaschall at first by popping out. He was heard later in the game on the hot field mic, saying, "I'm not that good right now" to the umpire—before taking a swing at a ball he thought was low and in the zone, but was a strike that sent him packing.
Matthews departed after six frames, having allowed just the one run and needing only 84 pitches. Before any reliever could even toe the rubber, the offense gave their starter a bit more run support. Ryan Jeffers collected his third hit of the night. Brooks Lee moved him into scoring position on a groundout, to set up Royce Lewis. Lewis, in turn, notched a third hit of his own, scoring Jeffers to bump the lead to 3-1. Lewis also stole two bases, and continues a recent surge in all facets of the game.
Cole Sands came on in the seventh, and knocked out the White Sox hitters in fast and accurate fashion. Sands has been throwing harder lately, and is turning around his season in its final several weeks. He mowed down Chicago to the tune of two innings, no baserunners and four strikeouts.
Kody Funderburk got the nod to start the ninth inning, looking to secure the game against a left-leaning pocket of the White Sox lineup. Funderburk got Colson Montgomery to start his outing, but put the tying run on base by yielding a single to Quero. He battled with Benintendi at the plate, working up a full count, but he ultimately walked him.
The Twins moved on to Justin Topa, who has a great ground-ball rate. Although the tying run was aboard, a double play would get the Twins out of the inning and secure the win. But two outs can be awfully hard to find, sometimes. Topa fanned Curtis Mead, but a broken-bat flare over the head of Keaschall off the bat of Baldwin brought home pinch-runner Korey Lee to halve the lead.
Maki came out to calm down Topa, and whatever he said, Topa got Michael A. Taylor to chase the first two pitches, both sweepers. Ahead 0-2, though, he kept trying that sweeper out of the zone. Taylor watched two go by, during which time Baldwin stole second to put the go-ahead run in scoring position. Topa's fifth straight sweeper hung on the inner half of the plate, and Taylor crushed it—down the line and hooking, but fair, scoring Benintendi and Baldwin for the White Sox lead 4-3.
The Twins had one more chance to make a go at the win, with Buxton up first. He cracked a double to left, and Larnach followed with a hard-won walk. DaShawn Keirsey Jr. came in to pinch-run for Larnach, and just like that, the Twins had great speed on the bases representing both the tying and the winning runs.
Keaschall, though, hit a routine fly to Benintendi for the first out, and Outman sliced an equally harmless ball to the same man. Jeffers stood in as the last chance, but instead of heroics, he could produce only a routine ground ball for the final out of the game. The Twins have lost the season series to the White Sox for the first time since 2021.
What’s Next?
The Twins finish out the series with the White Sox before heading to the Kansas City Royals. Taj Bradley (6-7; 4.83 ERA) will be taking the mound against Shane Smith (4-7; 3.81 ERA) at 6:40 PM CST, Thursday.
Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet
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