After a 90-minute rain delay, a three-and-a-half-hour game, and some asshole named Ted babbling into the ether, the White Sox swept the Twins, keeping a five-game win streak intact. The sweep was the first one of four games in Minnesota in franchise history.
After a scoreless first two frames, Edgar Quero added a double to his tab (single to lead off the game), and No. 2 hitter Kyle Teel found a hole up the middle and took advantage with an RBI single to put the White Sox on the board first:
Colson Montgomery picked up a two-out walk, prompting a mound visit for the Twinkies. Curtis Mead made Taj Bradley pay for that walk by sending two runs in with a double, making it 3-0 in the top of the third:
Luke Keaschall singled to start the bottom of the frame, and a missed catch from Lenyn Sosa on a pickoff attempt at first base moved him all the way to third. Thankfully, he was sent back to second after an interference was called. That wouldn’t matter much, as Keaschall ended up stealing third. Jonathan Cannon, who came on in the second inning as the scheduled “bulk arm” tonight, worked his way out of a jam, keeping Keaschall stranded on third to end the inning.
Cannon then gave up his first walk of the night with one out in the bottom of the fourth, and repeated it with Austin Martin. He bounced back with a confusing changeup to James Outman for the second out. Ryan Fitzgerald knocked in a run with an RBI single as Cannon continued to struggle. Keaschall singled, sending in yet another run, and Cannon’s pitch count climbed past 30 for the frame. Sosa botched another play, allowing Larnach a single, tying the game, and prompting Cannon to get the hook. Tyler Alexander stepped in to face pinch-hitter Mickey Gasper, who singled to give Minnesota the lead, 5-3.
Teel had his second hit of the night, a double that bounced into the bullpen, and stole third with ease. Montgomery hit a hard sac fly, driving in his 40th run of the year, all thanks to heads-up base running from Teel. Alas, the one run the Sox answered with was canceled out by a solo homer from Matt Wallner, putting the Twins up, 6-4. Then Twins had back-to-back singles to lead off the bottom of the sixth, and Gasper drove in his third run of the night to pad Minnesota’s lead to 7-4.
Rather than quit, the White Sox rallied, and loudly, in the top of the seventh.
Michael A. Taylor had his first hit of the night, and was followed by Quero’s third hit, putting runners on the corners. Teel came in and caused major damage with a three-run blast, coming 113 mph off the bat to tie the game:
With a hit-by-pitch and no outs, the Twins went back into their bullpen. It wasn’t a great idea, as Génesis Cabrera came in and plunked the hand of Montgomery. Mead flew out to center for the first out, but was able to advance Sosa. Benintendi caused a lead change with a sac fly, sending Sosa home standing up when Outman couldn’t toss a decent throw. Meidroth singled to keep the momentum going, making way for the ninth batter in the inning, Brooks Baldwin. A balk was called before a pitch to Baldwin, sending Montgomery home, and the Minnesota mistakes continued as a wild pitch got by Gasper, planting Meidroth on third. Baldwin ended the inning with a fly out, but the Good Guys were back up, 9-7.
Keaschall continued to be a pain, this time with a one-out single in the bottom of the eighth, but Grant Taylor shut down any hopes and dreams in the inning. Sosa started the top of the ninth on second after reaching on a throwing error. Montgomery then remembered it had been like five at-bats since his last homer and sent a ball to the upper deck (454 feet) to pile on to Minnesota’s bullpen, making it 11-7.
Mead doubled, still with no outs for the South Siders. Benintendi got plunked, becoming the third White Sox batter to be hit by a pitch in the game. Meidroth loaded the bases with a single — his fourth hit of the night — and still, with no outs. Alas, a quick out and a double play would end the inning, leaving the bases loaded. (That’s the team I remember.)
Steven Wilson stepped in with an attempt to close out the game and immediately gave up a homer to Kody Clemens. Refusing to quit, the Twins managed another single, this time with two outs and being a strike away from the game ending. But Outman grounded out, giving the Good Guys their fifth win in a row — all in comeback fashion (which hasn’t happened for the White Sox in 40 years), sweeping the Twinkies in Minnesota.
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