When Major League Baseball released the 2021 schedule before the 2020 season started, the sight of a 162-game slate brought a needed prospect of normalcy.
Yet inside that schedule was a strange twist. The White Sox and Twins, the co-favorites for the AL Central, wouldn't meet until mid-May, and they'd be done with all 19 games before August's halfway point.
The delay should have created tension and anticipation for a three-month slugfest. Instead, the Twins crapped the bed. The White Sox held a seven-game edge over Minnesota by the time they met for their first game on May 11. At that point, the White Sox's job was to kick the Twins while they were down.
The Sox succeeded, resulting in winning the season series over Minnesota for the first time since 2016, a year the Twins lost 103 games. Minnesota is now 17 games behind the White Sox and pondering the course for next year.
| Year | Wins | Losses | RS | RA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 14 | 4 | 113 | 77 |
| 2013 | 8 | 11 | 87 | 85 |
| 2014 | 9 | 10 | 104 | 108 |
| 2015 | 6 | 13 | 57 | 108 |
| 2016 | 12 | 7 | 98 | 86 |
| 2017 | 7 | 12 | 67 | 90 |
| 2018 | 7 | 12 | 76 | 91 |
| 2019 | 6 | 13 | 65 | 125 |
| 2020 | 5 | 5 | 42 | 54 |
| 2021 | 13 | 6 | 123 | 71 |
| Total | 87 | 93 | 832 | 895 |
Were the White Sox able to take all three games at Target Field in their final meeting, they would've set a record for most victories against an AL Central in a season. Alas, the White Sox lost the last two games by one run, including a finale where Tony La Russa could rest regulars in anticipation of tougher opponents.
THE GAMES
- May 11: White Sox 9, Twins 3
- May 12: White Sox 13, Twins 8
- May 13: White Sox 4, Twins 2
- May 17: White Sox 16, Twins 4
- May 18: Twins 5, White Sox 4
- May 19: White Sox 2, Twins 1
- June 29: White Sox 7, Twins 6
- June 30: White Sox 13, Twins 3
- July 1: White Sox 8, Twins 5
- July 6: White Sox 4, Twins 1
- July 7: White Sox 6, Twins 1
- July 19: Twins 3, White Sox 2 (Game 1)
- July 19: White Sox 5, Twins 3 (Game 2)
- July 20: White Sox 9, Twins 5
- July 21: Twins 7, White Sox 2
- Aug. 9: White Sox 11, Twins 1
- Aug. 10: Twins 4, White Sox 3
- Aug. 11: Twins 1, White Sox 0
DEFINING HITTERS
*Yermin Mercedes: The Yerminator hit .375/.483/.542 against the Twins, including a homer off the similarly shaped Willians Astudillo that triggered an international incident.
*Billy Hamilton: Hamilton came to the plate 32 times against the Twins, as opposed to 14 for the next-most-frequented teams. He collected 12 hits, which is four times as the next-most-victimized teams. That includes a 4-for-4 game on May 12, which stood as the highlight of his season before this incredible slip-and-slide catch on the Target Field warning track.
*Damn near everybody else: Andrew Vaughn had an .814 OPS against the Twins in 2021, and that registered as the 12th-highest on the team against Minnesota. He hit his first career homer against the Twins. So did Nick Madrigal. So did Gavin Sheets. It was a bloodbath.
*Josh Donaldson: He turned himself into Public Enemy No. 1 after taunting Lucas Giolito with a foreign substance comment after a first-inning home on June 30, but at .208/.298/.458, the White Sox were able to keep him in check better than most seasons, at least when his legs weren't already holding him back.
*Jorge Polanco: While Nelson Cruz burnished his reputation as a Sox-killer and Donaldson played the heel, Polanco ended up scoring the decisive run in a couple of Minnesota victories. He finished the series with a .292/.343/.538 average.
DEFINING PITCHERS
*Lucas Giolito: While he had to deal with Donaldson's dickery, it didn't seem to affect his performance on the field. He won all three of his meetings against Minnesota, with a 2.05 ERA and an average of 7⅓ innings a start.
*Liam Hendriks: Alex Colomé's early stumbles gave his replacement in Chicago a chance to show why the White Sox pursued an upgrade, and while he didn't always have the smoothest time, he did convert all four of his save opportunities, even when Tony La Russa needed five and six outs from him.
*JA Happ: The Twins' biggest attempt to reinforce their rotation crumpled, and the White Sox are a big reason why. They trashed him for 15 runs over seven innings the two times they saw him.
*Bailey Ober: Five of his 13 career outings have come against the White Sox, and he's withstanding the repeat viewings well. Two of his last three appearances were scoreless starts, and the Sox are going to have to figure out how to get around on his fastball next year.
*Tyler Duffey: He was already on my radar for taking offense to a Tim Anderson pirouette in his rookie year, and Duffey added to his record by throwing behind Yermín Mercedes, prompting CC Sabathia to refer to him as "Duffey's weird ass."
DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS
*Center fielders: The White Sox went an entire season without seeing Byron Buxton, who started the year on an MVP-caliber pace. A hip injury kept him out of the early matchups, and a broken hand sidelined him later. Meanwhile, the Twins only faced Luis Robert in two games due to a torn hip flexor. Robert will be around next year, but Buxton's future in Minnesota is unclear.
*Trades: Thanks to the standings and obvious factors like age and team control, the Twins felt compelled to send longtime nemeses like Nelson Cruz and José Berríos to the AL East before the final matchup of the season.
*Homers: While the White Sox have languished toward the bottom of the league in team homers, the Sox out-bombed the Bomba Squad by seven. They hit 33 homers against Minnesota, and no more than 15 against any other team (Cleveland in 14 games, Detroit in 13).
