MINNEAPOLIS — Everywhere they’ve gone this season, the Chicago White Sox have done an outstanding job of making their opponents feel well. This week, the Minnesota Twins are the ones reaping all the benefits.
It couldn’t have come at a better time.
Bucking a downward trend that’s dogged them all season whether via underperformance, inconsistent starting pitching and hitting or massive injuries, the Twins are finally experiencing continuous good vibes courtesy of their American League Central rivals.
On Wednesday night, that meant Joe Ryan dominating, balls finding holes and clutch hits early and late.
All of it added up to a 6-3 victory over the sad-sack White Sox, a win that suddenly has the Twins (10-13) on their first winning streak of the season. Following three consecutive victories, the Twins, who finished with a season-high 13 hits on Wednesday, send rookie starter Simeon Woods Richardson to the mound on Thursday afternoon in search of a four-game sweep of Chicago, which is a paltry 3-21 on the season.
“Every team (needs) it,” said shortstop Willi Castro, who doubled, homered and drove in three runs on his 27th birthday. “I know we haven’t played our best baseball. These three games, we play way good baseball. I think we’re going to start playing like that. …We’ve just got to keep it going.”
𝗕𝗜𝗚 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜 𝗦𝗧𝗬𝗟𝗘 💥#MNTwins | #MLB pic.twitter.com/UGofQWupkv
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) April 25, 2024
Over the course of 162 games, everyone needs a pick-me-up. No team is immune to a rough stretch in which it plays putrid baseball. Occasionally, misfortune and poor health accompany those poor stretches to make things seem bleak.
The Twins couldn’t have drawn up a worse way to start their season.
From significant injuries to key performers Royce Lewis, Carlos Correa and Jhoan Duran, to an offense that carried a sub-.200 average until this series, to a bullpen whose minimal poor outings surfaced at the wrong time, the Twins have been horrid.
But not for the past three days. And not against the White Sox, a group that potentially could make a run at 120 losses.
Over the past three days, the Twins raised their team batting average by 17 points, from .195 to .212.
An offense that has struggled to get out to quick starts took advantage of a tight second-inning strike zone for White Sox starter Garrett Crochet.
Carlos Santana and Austin Martin were gifted balls by plate ump Laz Diaz that were clearly strikes as they began the inning with a walk and a double. Christian Vázquez followed with an RBI single, one of three hits on the night after starting the season 6-for-40. Then the birthday boy got into the act, Castro ripping a three-run homer off Crochet to give the Twins a 4-0 advantage.
“I can’t lie, it’s frickin’ great to get some run support … and have guys throwing the ball well,” Ryan said. “Awesome to see (Chris) Paddack doing his thing (Monday). Bullpen’s been great. Yeah, I mean, those are great things to build on.”
Still, the Twins didn’t win this one easily. Ryan surrendered a pair of solo homers in the third inning and then in the fifth Chicago executed a double steal of home with catcher Korey Lee nabbing second to pull it off and climb within a run.
Kevin Pillar & Korey Lee sent those ones outta here! pic.twitter.com/Kpl7rQ8Lq2
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) April 25, 2024
But what has been a dormant Twins offense woke back up at the right time.
Manuel Margot doubled to start the bottom of the fifth inning for one of his two hits. Pinch hitter Max Kepler then performed a feat the Twins haven’t most of the season, finding grass for a bloop, two-out RBI single that fell between several White Sox defenders. Kepler later scored on a wild pitch to give the Twins a 6-3 lead.
“It feels good to battle in some at-bats, put some balls in play, even if they’re not hit hard, and then find some grass,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “They give us an opportunity to run the bases and make some things happen. That is great. It is part of the battle sometimes, just fighting to the point where the ball is finding the barrel in some form and then you can get rewarded. It didn’t really play out like that early on for us in a lot of ways. Even when we did hit the ball hard, it really wasn’t finding any space. Today it did and it comes with a little bit of the fight our guys gave in their at-bats. They didn’t give in, they found a way to put the ball into play.”
The offense and a strong showing by the bullpen made a winner of Ryan, who was very good aside from surrendering the two solo shots in the third inning. Ryan generated 19 swings and misses in 92 pitches, striking out eight while walking one with four hits allowed in six innings.
Matt Bowman, Brock Stewart and Griffin Jax then took over and retired nine of 10 batters to close it out.
“We have a great team,” Castro said. “Let’s focus on that and go out there and compete. … It’s a long season. There’s a lot to be done.”
Reinforcements — as well as three more games against the White Sox in Chicago next week — could help the Twins avert a disastrous April.
Reliever Jhoan Duran expects to iron out the kinks in his next scheduled outing, which is set for Friday with Triple-A St. Paul. Returning from a right oblique strain, Duran made his first appearance since March 13 on Tuesday and saw at least a 3 mph average decrease in the velocity of all of his pitches.
Duran reported he was pain-free in allowing two earned runs and four hits while striking out three. His four-seam fastball averaged 98.1 mph and touched 99 mph.
“I think it’s the first outing,” Duran said. “So maybe on Friday, it’ll be better. … I’ll be good soon. That can happen. I know I have a few weeks not throwing in games, and I’ll be good. I’ll be good.”
#MNTWINS WIN #MNTWINS WIN ‼ pic.twitter.com/xXhe7t7TY7
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) April 25, 2024
Baldelli said there’s no established timeline for Duran’s return. He also confirmed there are no concerns about Duran’s velocity.
With a month off since he pitched in five spring training games, the Twins won’t rush Duran back, not with the bullpen holding its own in his absence. After posting three scoreless innings Wednesday, the bullpen’s ERA sits at 2.72, fourth-best in the majors.
“We want to get him feeling good,” Baldelli said. “We just want to get him throwing the ball well. When he threw his live (batting practice) here, his stuff was up and basically normal. So I don’t think anything has changed between then and now. It’s not too far behind us. I think he’s fine. He’s just probably getting settled in back on the mound.”
On the IL with a right intercostal strain, Correa participated in light glove work with coach Tony Diaz before Wednesday’s contest. Already eligible to come off the IL, Correa also is swinging a bat and participating in baseball activities. As long as he continues to progress, the shortstop is expected to come off the IL during the team’s upcoming road trip without participating in a rehab assignment.
(Photo of Ryan Jeffers and Willi Castro celebrating the win: Bruce Kluckhohn / USA Today)