White Sox 15, Twins 2: A Wednesday Night Smackdown

There's no better way to recover from a tough extra-innings loss to your rival than dominating the next night.

In his major league debut, David Sandlin’s first pitch was challenged by Byron Buxton. Originally called a strike, Buxton’s intuition paid off as ABS reversed the call to a ball. On the very next pitch, Sandlin challenged Buxton with a low fastball and got burned. A 417-foot blast out to the center field bleachers put Sandlin and the White Sox behind early.

Those were about the only two pitches that didn't go his way. The rookie settled after that home run, retiring the next 18 batters. Five-run innings in the fifth and seventh, highlighted by Chase Meidroth’s grand slam and Munetaka Murakami’s 20th homer, gave the White Sox a resounding 15-2 victory.

While the offense certainly kept the Rate Field fireworks technicians busy, Sandlin was quite impressive. On just 61 pitches, Sandlin cruised after the leadoff home run without allowing another hit or walk. He struck out four batters, with Brooks Lee being the victim of his first punchout.

Sandlin also received some nice defensive plays behind. In the third inning, Randal Grichuk tracked Tristan Gay’s deep fly to right field and robbed him of at least extra bases by making a great catch at the wall.

If you haven’t seen Sandlin pitch before, he has a big arm. He touched 99 mph with his four-seamer against the Twins, averaging 97.7 mph with it over the course of the night, and he mixed in his curveball well. On 29 swings by Minnesota hitters, Sandlin generated seven whiffs. For a team looking for starting pitching help with Noah Schultz on the IL, this type of outing from Sandlin is a very welcome surprise.

On the other side of the ball, while the White Sox's lefty-heavy lineup can often look ordinary against a lefty starter, Twins southpaw Connor Prielipp did not cause much of an issue.

In the second inning, back-to-back singles from Colson Montgomery and Edgar Quero got the party started, followed by a little bit of small ball as Derek Hill laid down a sacrifice bunt to put runners in scoring position. That bunt set the table for Sam Antonacci. On a high sinker, Antonacci hit a bouncer back at Prielipp that ricocheted off his glove and past the drawn-in infield. Both runners scored, and the White Sox were ahead 2-1.

Next inning, with Miguel Vargas standing on third base, Montgomery hit a deep fly to the left-center gap. It appeared to have the distance for a home run, but it fell just short, resulting in an RBI double.

Still a tight game into the fifth inning with a score of 3-1, the White Sox broke it wide open. Grichuk, Quero, Antonacci, and even Luisangel Acuna picked up RBIs to push the lead to 8-1. In the sixth inning, Murakami singled and stole his first MLB base, and Grichuk drove him in with a single to left.

That expanded the lead to 9-1 heading into the seventh, but still the White Sox showed no mercy. With the bases loaded and one out, Meidroth drove a hanging slider out to center field for a grand slam. His fifth home run of the season put the White Sox ahead 13-1, and put them in position player-pitching territory. But before fans could settle down from the grand slam hysteria, Murakami went oppo taco for back-to-back homers, becoming the third White Sox hitter to reach 20 home runs before June 1.

The Twins eventually had a position player pitch in Orlando Arcia, and even his line sported a run allowed. That made it a 15-2 victory that featured not only improved plate appearances from left-handed hitters against left-handed pitching, but also an impressive performance from a rookie starting pitcher. It’s the type of game that has fans thinking the 2026 season has the makings of being a special surprise.

Game Notes

• Randal Grichuk went 3-for-5 with two RBI. The veteran outfielder now has a .823 OPS.
• Chase Meidroth went 2-for-5 with a walk and his grand slam. Great production from the leadoff spot.
• Edgar Quero went 2-for-3 with a walk and three runs scored
• Sam Antonacci was 3-for-4 with three RBI. He's now batting .287 with a .774 OPS on the season
• Tristan Peters coming off the bench had a perfect night at the plate going 2-for-2 with a walk.
• The White Sox drew seven walks while striking out eight times.
• The White Sox are 7-3 against AL Central opponents in 2026. In 2024, they were 10-42, and last year 18-34.

Record: 28-27 | Box Score | Baseball Savant