The Minnesota Twins still aren’t where they want to be, but they hope what happened Tuesday can propel them into Wednesday night’s game against the Chicago White Sox in Minneapolis.
And beyond.
“If you want to be successful, you’ve got to find ways to win games that are really not going your way and they’re stressing you in a tough fashion,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Really, not a lot went right for a while in the game. It was tough sledding. But find a way. You just keep working.”
The Twins have answered a five-game losing streak with wins in three of their last four contests.
Power has been an ally, as well. Byron Buxton (three hits) and Trevor Larnach (two) each hit a late home run to put Minnesota in position for Tuesday’s walk-off, 6-5 victory.
Chicago appeared on the verge of stopping a four-game losing streak, seizing early momentum from right-hander Erick Fedde’s six strong innings and a three-run home run by Eloy Jimenez.
Fedde retired the final 16 Twins he faced after yielding a run in the first inning. But Minnesota feasted against the Chicago bullpen, scoring five runs over the final 2 2/3 innings. The rally set the stage for Alex Kirilloff, who delivered a game-ending single with two outs in the ninth after striking out in his first four at-bats.
The White Sox fell to 3-20. Chicago has three losing streaks of at least five games.
“You know, it’s not easy,” Jimenez said. “It’s never easy. … We’re trying to work together. The results are not there, but we’ve been working really hard. We know this is not going to be like this forever.”
The White Sox will aim to end their latest skid behind left-hander Garrett Crochet (1-3, 5.61 ERA). Crochet will need to recover from recent shakiness to improve Chicago’s chances.
After pitching to a 1.38 ERA with 16 strikeouts over 13 innings in his first two starts, Crochet struggled mightily on Friday at Philadelphia. He allowed seven runs on five hits, including three homers, in a season-low three innings.
“I have to avoid the crooked numbers for sure,” Crochet said. “I chalk up the entire day to not controlling the counts – falling behind early, kind of fighting for everything. … They made me throw more pitches than I needed to. So it was a matter of time at that point.”
Crochet is 1-1 with a 1.74 ERA in 11 career appearances against the Twins, all in relief. He has 19 strikeouts in 10 1/3 innings.
Right-hander Joe Ryan (0-1, 3.57 ERA) is set to start for Minnesota. Ryan is coming off Friday’s no-decision against Detroit in which he allowed four runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Ryan will look to extend his success against the White Sox. In three previous starts against them, he is 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 16 innings.
–Field Level Media
