Not even a “get-in-the-weeds, grimy game” in Chicago on Monday night could stop the red-hot Minnesota Twins from notching their eighth straight win.
The Twins will look to continue their good fortune on Tuesday night when they visit the White Sox in the second contest of this three-game series.
Monday’s 3-2 win didn’t feature the offensive fireworks that have highlighted the first seven games of Minnesota’s streak, but Twins manager Rocco Baldelli didn’t mind.
“It was kind of a get-in-the-weeds, grimy game,” Baldelli said. “We couldn’t get much going, so we did what we could — we kept pitching, playing defense, doing what we could until we could put a run across, and we did.”
The Twins scored at least five runs in all of the first seven games of this streak. They came into Chicago on the heels of demolishing the Los Angeles Angels over the weekend, when they scored 32 runs on 45 hits in a three-game sweep in Anaheim, Calif.
On Monday, Minnesota benefited from a two-run homer from Carlos Santana in the second inning. Starter Joe Ryan and the Twins’ bullpen kept the White Sox in check until Max Kepler could drive in the game-winning run in the ninth.
Said Baldelli: “We’re having different guys come through in different spots, different innings, but it’s everyone. When you have to work for something and you get the reward, and it doesn’t come easily, you feel good. I think everyone is feeling satisfied.”
The Twins have been without injured closer Jhoan Duran (strained oblique), but Baldelli noted the flamethrower could be available as early as Tuesday. Either way, he’s happy with how the Twins’ makeshift bullpen is performing.
“They’re good at what they do,” Baldelli said. “Everyone is pulling their weight right now. When we bring guys in, we anticipate zeros. … They do their jobs and they hand it to the next guy.”
Chicago manager Pedro Grifol may have regretted resting Tommy Pham on Monday. The veteran outfielder was called up from Triple-A on Friday and went 5-for-14 with three runs as the White Sox swept the visiting Tampa Bay Rays over the weekend.
“I mean, (Pham) didn’t have a spring training,” Grifol said. “He ran hard for three days. Everything he does is 100 percent. From the time he gets in here to the very last pitch of the game, he goes hard. So not having a spring training, I’ve got to protect him as well.”
Pham pinch-hit against Twins stand-in closer Caleb Thielbar with one out in the ninth but was retired on a sinking liner to right field.
Tuesday’s game will feature a pair of right-handers in Minnesota’s Simeon Woods Richardson (1-0, 2.45 ERA) and Chicago’s Michael Soroka (0-3, 6.83).
Richardson, 23, made the third start of his career in a no-decision against Chicago on Thursday in Minneapolis. He allowed two runs on seven hits in five innings while striking out six.
Soroka, in his fifth MLB season, has received two no-decisions in as many career starts against the Twins. He sports a 3.75 ERA over 12 innings, allowing five runs, three of them on home runs.
–Field Level Media
