If the Twins brought tonight's defensive effort to Tuesday night's game, the White Sox might've finally ended up winners at Target Field.
Instead, the Twins saved their sloppiness for a White Sox bullpen game, and even though they briefly handed away the lead, it was only a matter of time until they found the arms they could exploit.
In this case, they got to four different White Sox pitchers, scoring in five consecutive innings to eventually distance themselves from the American Leagues's worst team. The White Sox have now lost 14 consecutive games in Minneapolis.
For a brief moment, it looked like the Sox could have snapped the streak. They trailed 2-0 entering the top of the fifth, but they finally started figuring out David Festa. Brooks Baldwin walked, then moved to third on Bobby Dalbec's single. Cole Sands then replaced Festa, but he walked (leadoff hitter!) Joshua Palacios on four pitches to load the bases.
Before you could start fearing how the White Sox might botch the opportunity, Sands skipped a pitch to the backstop for #WILDPITCHOFFENSE that made it a 2-1 game, and Benintendi lofted a single to center that Byron Buxton couldn't catch to tie the game at 2.
Luis Robert Jr. then popped out to the right side for the first out, and Edgar Quero followed with an uninspiring grounder to the right side, albeit one that stood a decent chance at being productive due to its slow-developing nature. As luck would have it, Luke Keaschall let it slip past him while trying to angle his body to start a double play, and Palacios scored to give the White Sox a 3-2 lead. Benintendi advanced to third on the error, but Andrew Vaughn struck out, and Matt Thaiss grounded out to keep it a one-run game.
It didn't stay a one-run game for long. The Twins, who loaded the bases in each of Bryse Wilson's three innings with only one run to show for it, kept applying pressure as different relievers entered, and eventually the bullpen cracked.
Penn Murfee, who retired Carlos Correa to end the bottom of the fourth, had nothing in the fifth. He walked Ty France on four pitches, then saw a pair of six-pitch battles end in singles that tied the game at 3 with still nobody out. Steven Wilson spared the White Sox further damage with a heroic two-strikeout inning to strand Murfee's runners, but Jordan Leasure gave up a solo shot to Trevor Larnach in the sixth, and then Cam Booser hung a slider to Buxton for a two-run shot that effectively put the game away.
The White Sox were limited to six hits, and none after Miguel Vargas' leadoff single in the sixth inning, which was erased by a Dalbec double play. It's hard to say it's a surprise when the lineup was bookended by Palacios at the top, and a Jake Amaya who only got one plate appearance before Dalbec pinch-hit for him and manned shortstop the rest of the way.
The obstacles are even bigger when Robert is malfunctioning. He went 0-for-3 with the aforementioned strikeout with runners in scoring position and two strikeouts, and while he drew a walk, he was picked off to end the first inning.
Quero provided the most consistent effort, seeing 26 pitches over his four plate appearances, resulting in a pair of walks and the productive grounder that Keaschall botched. It's just that a Vaughn double was the only extra-base hit, and the White Sox lineup don't have nearly enough talent to succeed advancing one base at a time.
Bullet points:
*Thaiss had a rough night behind the plate, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts at the plate, and racking up catcher interference behind it.
*Bryse Wilson had a line you won't see often: 2.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 1 HBP. Baldwin snagged a bases-loaded Correa liner for an unassisted double play to end the first inning, and the Sox spent most of the remaining innings operating on a razor's edge.
*Will Venable used seven pitchers over eight innings, with Mike Vasil the only dormant reliever from gutting through three innings the night before.
