Back to the first weekend of 2020, Dallas Keuchel was the only White Sox starter to control the Minnesota Twins potent offense. Even though the veteran southpaw only struck out one batter, Keuchel allowed just three hits and two earned runs in 5.1 innings pitched on 73 pitches. Doing an excellent job of getting the Twins to hit grounders (11) while limiting the number of fly balls (3). That performance has been typical for Keuchel in 2020, who is posting his best ERA/FIP numbers since 2017.
Meanwhile, Twins hitters have continued to struggle against left-handers since facing Keuchel. As a team, they have hit .239/.306/.348 with just eight home runs. Before the game, the Twins did receive some good news that Byron Buxton was added to the lineup.
Keuchel mostly did his job, but Buxton came up big for the Twins as they evened the series with a 3-2 victory over the Sox.
Starting for the Twins was Michael Pineda as he made his first start since being suspended for PEDs in late 2019. Pineda enjoyed tremendous success against the 2019 White Sox going 4-0 with a 2.88 ERA in 25 innings. But that was last year, and the 2020 White Sox squad made a point early to Pineda.
Tim Anderson led off with an infield single thanks to Pineda not covering first base. Jose Abreu extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a single for himself. After Edwin Encarnacion hit a deep fly out to center, allowing Anderson to advance to third, it was up to Eloy Jimenez to convert.
Jimenez was able to pull Pineda's fastball, splitting the gap in left field. Anderson quickly scored with little effort. Abreu chugged around the bases like a freight train wailing to alert those to get out of his path. He scored from first as Jimenez strolled into second base for a two-RBI double. A much-needed hit after going 0-for-12 in his last three games.
Keuchel got himself into a jam in the third inning. After two quick outs, Keuchel allowed back-to-back singles to Jorge Polanco and Nelson Cruz. Next was Marwin Gonzalez, and Keuchel fell behind to a quick 3-0 count. Gonzalez had the green light and almost pulled Keuchel's four-seam fastball down the left-field line but just sliced foul. Keuchel followed up with a changeup, and all Gonzalez could do is hit a grounder at Yolmer Sanchez for the 5-4 fielder's choice ending the threat.
Abreu didn't have a good fifth inning. In the top half, he stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded. Nick Madrigal pulled a single to start the rally. Tim Anderson found the hole in the infield on a called hit and run. With runners on the corners, Yasmani Grandal walked.
On the first pitch, a low slider, Abreu barely made contact. But it was enough to slowly trickle to Miguel Sano for an easy out bailing out Pineda. What was a promising start ended up falling flat as Pineda made it through six innings against the Sox offense only allowing the two runs.
In the bottom half, Keuchel again got into a jam. Polanco and Cruz had back-to-back singles again to put runners on the corners with one out. Using the same strategy against Gonzalez from earlier, Keuchel got his grounder hit to third. Sanchez made an excellent play charging up to the ball and made an accurate throw to Madrigal at second. The rookie second baseman made a great transition with his throw to first base and appeared to be on time for an inning-ending double play.
But Abreu dropped the ball, which allowed Polanco to score, and the Sox lead was cut in half.
For a moment, it looked like Edwin Encarnación made it a two-run lead with a deep fly to start the sixth inning. Buxton did a terrific job of tracking the ball and timed his jump perfectly to rob Encarnación of a home run.
Buxton saving that run allowed Minnesota to tie it in the sixth inning. Jimmy Cordero replaced Keuchel, which prompted Twins manager Rocco Baldelli to have Jake Cave pinch-hit. On a 3-2 count, Cordero's fastball caught too much of the plate, and Cave hit a line drive to find the gap in right field. Nomar Mazara didn't take the best route fielding the ball, and that defensive mishap allowed Cave to reach third on a triple.
Baldelli went to the bench again and had Luis Arraez pinch-hit. Similarly, the call worked as Arraez pulled a grounder past a diving Abreu for an RBI double. With a tied game and one out, Miguel Sano hit a hard grounder at Tim Anderson. Instead of going back to second, Arraez thought he could get to third base before Sanchez. That was a poor decision and ended up in a TOOTBLAN helping the Sox.
A couple of curious decisions made by the White Sox in the seventh inning contributed to Minnesota taking the lead. After Cordero gave up the lead, Rick Renteria decided to start the inning with him to face Cruz instead of Evan Marshall, who was warmed up in the bullpen.
Well, maybe it doesn't matter who is throwing for the White Sox against Cruz because he doubled down the right-field line. After that result, Renteria swapped Cordero for Marshall to face Gonzalez. In a tough at-bat, Marshall walked Gonzalez to turn up the heat.
Now facing Buxton, Marshall threw an inside fastball. Just a bit ahead in his timing, Buxton pulled that pitch foul into the seats. Instead of throwing a breaking pitch or changeup to the outside corner, Grandal called for a second inside fastball. This time Buxton timed it right and singled to left field, giving the Twins their first lead.
Buxton's single was the game-winning hit as Sergio Romo and Matt Wisler did their job flipping sliders at Sox hitters to prevent another late comeback. White Sox bats went to sleep as they only had one base runner after the fifth inning, and are once again tied for the AL Central lead with Cleveland.
Game Notes:
- Yolmer Sanchez went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in his first start of 2020
- Tim Anderson went 3-for-4 boosting his batting average to .345
- Nelson Cruz went 3-for-3 with a walk.
- Dallas Keuchel only threw 85 pitches as he was consistently missing his spots and dealing with a stomach issue. The lack of command didn’t hurt his final line too much as he went 5 IP 7 H 1 R 0 ER 2 BB 4 K. His season ERA is now 2.42.
