The White Sox secured the series split when they came from behind to knock off the Minnesota Twins on Thursday. While the standings showed a three-game lead at the end of the day, they effectively held a four-game edge because they own the tiebreaker.
When head-to-head records can't settle the standings, then the next determining factor is the best winning percentage over their last 20 intradivision games. The White Sox have that thing already locked up head-to-head thanks to their merciless treatment of the Royals and Tigers, because even if the Indians sweep them next week, they'll have a 12-8 record. The Twins can only top out at 11-9.
(Note: Cleveland can lock in a record of 13-7 if they win their last six divisional games, including four against the White Sox. They're not dead yet.)
The split didn't come easy. The White Sox were clobbered three times, while only returning the favor once. The lopsided nature of lopsided games means the White Sox suffered in terms of run differential. Nevertheless, the Sox avoided a losing record against Minnesota for the first time since 2016 and just the second time in eight years, so they'll take that however it comes.
| Year | Wins | Losses | RS | RA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 9 | 9 | 65 | 55 |
| 2012 | 14 | 4 | 113 | 77 |
| 2013 | 8 | 11 | 87 | 85 |
| 2014 | 9 | 10 | 104 | 108 |
| 2015 | 6 | 13 | 57 | 108 |
| 2016 | 12 | 7 | 98 | 86 |
| 2017 | 7 | 12 | 67 | 90 |
| 2018 | 7 | 12 | 76 | 91 |
| 2019 | 6 | 13 | 65 | 125 |
| 2020 | 5 | 5 | 42 | 54 |
| Total | 82 | 96 | 774 | 879 |
The Twins had reason to take the White Sox a little bit lightly, because their strengths (a deep and dangerous lineup, right-handed starters and relievers) matched up well against the White Sox's weaknesses (short starting pitching, a lack of left-handed hitters).
But hey, thanks to a defensive blunder here, a couple of vulnerable relievers there, and a loss of composure at the end, the White Sox were able to seize a few opportunities to pull even at the end of the slate. The Twins could have scored a decisive victory, but they didn't close it out, and that's why some of their fans are salty.
THE GAMES
- July 24: Twins 10, White Sox 5
- July 25: White Sox 10, Twins 3
- July 26: Twins 14, White Sox 2
- Aug. 31: White Sox 8, Twins 5
- Sept. 1: Twins 3, White Sox 2
- Sept. 2: Twins 8, White Sox 1
- Sept. 14: White Sox 3, Twins 1
- Sept. 15: White Sox 6, Twins 2
- Sept. 16: Twins 5, White Sox 1
- Sept. 17: White Sox 4, Twins 3
DEFINING PLAYERS
*Byron Buxton: Injuries limited him to only five of the 10 games, and the Sox are lucky. Buxton swent 9-for-21 with four homers and a double over five games with the Sox, including an inside-the-parker. At least the Sox were able to call him on his heat check, cutting him down at home by plenty when he got greedy on a Luis Robert error. It's also worth nothing that a game he didn't play was swung by an error in right center field by Max Kepler. If Buxton's out there, he probably takes charge.
*Adam Engel: He didn't quite make Buxton's impact, but he maximized the role he's playing by going 8-for-12 with two doubles and the butcher-boy single that put the Sox ahead in the opener of the final series.
*José Abreu: While five different White Sox regulars hit below .200 over the course of 10 games, Abreu kept the core of the order together by hitting .366/.395/.561 over the 10 games. He belted two homers, but like Engel, his lasting contribution to this series will be a much smaller gesture. Unlike Engel, Abreu's hit didn't even leave the infield.
*Jake Cave: While Nelson Cruz did his usual damage against the White Sox in the form of a 1.152 OPS, he's faring similarly well against the rest of the league. Jake Cave has a little bit of Ryan Raburn in him, in that his success against the Sox suggests he's an impact player, and the rest of the league sees him as a bench guy at best.
- vs. White Sox: .348/.400/.739 over 25 PA
- vs. Otherwise: .184/.244/.211 over 82 PA
DEFINING PITCHERS
*Dane Dunning: He posted the best start of any White Sox pitcher against the Twins in 2020, throwing seven innings of two-run ball on Sept. 15 (Dallas Keuchel pitched well enough to win both his starts, but stomach issues limited him to a total of 10⅓ innings). Dunning aced his first test against a good team.
*Reynaldo López: Compounding his shoulder issues is the fact that López has faced the Twins in three of his six outings. The good news is that each of them has improved upon the last one, but considering he failed to complete an inning in his 2020 debut, he set a low bar. He has a 9.39 ERA against the Twins, and a 2.92 ERA over the last 12⅓ innings he's thrown.
*Taylor Rogers: The Twins probably didn't realize there were opening up a huge can of worms by naming a lefty as their closer, but it certainly played into the White Sox's hands. Rogers pitched in just two of the 10 White Sox-Twins games, but he took the loss in both of them. Kepler's error contributed to three unearned runs in the first one, but the second was on him.
*Tyler Clippard: Minnesota's fastball-slider right-handed relievers more or less had their way with the Sox, with Tyler Duffey, Cody Stashak, Matt Wisler, Jorge Alcala and Trevor May combining to strike out 37 White Sox against nine walks over 23⅓ innings. The fastball-changeup Clippard had problems, as the White Sox scored upon him in three of four outings. He blew the lead in two of them, taking the loss once.
DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS
*Ejections: Perhaps it's the sketchy short-season umpiring, or maybe it's the fact that the White Sox have two good framers behind the plate, but the Twins went from whooping and jawing during the first series at the Cell to bitching and kvetching during the second one. Three members of the Twins were ejected for arguing balls and strikes, including this game-changer by Josh Donaldson.
*Mediocre starting: José Berriós resembled his peak form in only one of his three starts, while Lucas Giolito went 0-for-3. Keuchel and Kenta Maeda were both effective, but neither worked deep into games. López, Jake Odorizzi and Rich Hill were compromised by injuries. Only Dunning and Michael Pineda came out ahead for their work in the series, with each throwing impressive outings with their only chance.
*Bombas: The Twins showed they're still ahead of the curve when it comes to blasting balls out of the park (or inside the park), outhomering the White Sox 18-13, and outscoring the White Sox on homers 28-19.
