Max Kepler and José Miranda drove in runs with singles to give Minnesota the lead in the seventh inning, and the Twins made a late comeback for their 10th consecutive victory, defeating the Chicago White Sox 10-5 on Wednesday.
Miranda contributed another RBI with his third hit in the ninth inning, as the Twins scored four runs to seal the win. This winning streak is the longest for the Twins since June 2008 and the longest in the MLB this season. Willi Castro also had a productive day at the plate, with three hits including a double and triple, and an RBI single.
“It feels great,” said Twins manager Rocco Baldelli. “But we continued to compete throughout the game, even when things weren’t going smoothly. We had good at-bats, made plays, and our pitchers threw strikes.”
Alex Kirilloff hit a solo home run off Chicago’s starter Chris Flexen, while Ryan Jeffers doubled to bring in two more runs for Minnesota. The Twins have now won eight consecutive games against the White Sox, dating back to last season.
Minnesota was behind until they tied the game at 4-4 in the sixth inning, capitalizing on two unearned runs with two outs after an error by Chicago’s shortstop Paul DeJong.
“The ball was spinning like crazy and (baserunner Trevor) Larnach at second base did a good job of blocking my view,” DeJong said. “The ball just kind of took off sideways on me and I whiffed, and unfortunately it cost us two runs.”
Tommy Pham hit his first homer with the White Sox and added an RBI double. He’s batting .375 with Chicago in six games since joining them last Friday.
Kory Lee also went deep, and Robbie Grossman doubled twice and drove in a run for the White Sox, worst in the majors at 6-25. Chicago has dropped three straight after sweeping a three-game series from Tampa Bay last weekend.
Minnesota’s Bailey Ober (3-1) scuffled to the win, despite allowing four runs on six hits in six innings. Ober said he was still feeling the “low energy” effects of an illness he has since had last week, but his teammates came through with run support.
“You can just tell there’s not a whole lot of pressure being put on ourselves,” Ober said. “I feel that’s the biggest thing, is just leaning on each other and trusting our teammates.”
Flexen allowed two runs on four hits in five innings and left with a 4-2 lead. Dominic Leone (0-1), the second of five Chicago relievers, gave up two runs in the seventh and took the loss.
Twins center fielder Byron Buxton left the game in the second inning with right knee soreness after an unsuccessful attempt to steal second base.
Buxton singled leading off the inning, didn’t slide and was thrown out by Lee. Buxton walked off the field slowly and was replaced in the bottom half by Castro, who moved from third base.
Miranda then entered the game, took over at third, and upped his batting average to .375. “It’s good because you see everyone starting to play,” Miranda said. “Everyone’s having good at-bats, we’re playing great defense. The pitchers are doing their job, so it’s awesome to see.”
An All-Star in 2022, Buxton was limited to 85 games as a designated hitter last season because of a right knee injury. Baldelli had no update on the outfielder after the game.
Before the game, Minnesota selected the contract of right-handed reliever Caleb Boushley from Triple-A St. Paul. Left-hander Kody Funderburk was optioned to the farm club.
The White Sox recalled lefty Jared Shuster from Triple-A Charlotte and optioned RHP Prelander Berroa.
