Kepler's sacrifice fly sends Twins past White Sox for nine-game win streak
CHICAGO — The Twins had two runners thrown out on the basepaths, committed a costly error and saw a reliever give up a game-tying homer in the eighth inning.
Despite the Twins making life more difficult for themselves Tuesday at Guaranteed Rate Field, it didn't stop them from extending their winning streak to nine games with a 6-5 victory against the Chicago White Sox.
It's the 11th time the Twins won nine consecutive games in franchise history, and their first such streak since June 2008. Max Kepler, for the second straight game, drove in the go-ahead run. Byron Buxton drew a leadoff walk in the top of the ninth inning, moved to third on a single and Kepler brought him across the plate with a sacrifice fly.
The Twins took their first lead in the eighth inning. Jeffers drew a one-out walk and Manuel Margot replaced him on the basepaths. It was the right move because Margot scored from second base when Correa lined a two-out single into left field, beating a throw to the plate. Trevor Larnach followed with a single to right field to score Correa.
Sign up for our Twins Update newsletter
The lead lasted only five pitches when Cole Sands surrendered a game-tying, solo homer to Andrew Benintendi.
One of the quieter traits of the Twins' winning streak — buried underneath all their hits — was their clean defense and strong baserunning. They didn't give opponents extra outs, and they succeeded at taking extra bases.
They didn't play their cleanest game Tuesday and it didn't stop them.
Trailing by two runs in the sixth inning, Ryan Jeffers opened with a double and he advanced to third on a single from Kepler. On a full-count pitch to Trevor Larnach, a swing and a miss, Kepler swiped second base and Jeffers stole home without a throw to complete a double steal.
Five pitches after showcasing good baserunning, Carlos Santana hit a ground ball that second baseman Nicky Lopez failed to corral. Lopez pump-faked a throw to first base, and Kepler ran past third base before falling as he tried to stop. Kepler was thrown out in a rundown to end the inning.
Buxton was hit by a pitch with two outs in the seventh inning. On a 2-1 pitch to Edouard Julien, the next batter, Buxton took off for second base and was caught stealing for the first time since Aug. 31, 2021, snapping a string of 20 consecutive stolen bases.
Like the Twins' baserunning, their defense had its ups and downs. White Sox catcher Martín Maldonado opened the third inning with a single and tried to score from first base when Tommy Pham hit a double to the center field wall. Willi Castro, starting in center field, didn't take the cleanest route to the ball, but he was fortunate he had Correa to serve as the relay man.
BOXSCORE: Twins 6, Chicago White Sox 5
Maldonado, a slow runner, was a couple of steps past third base when Correa received the initial throw from Castro. Correa fired a two-hop bullet to the plate where Jeffers, the catcher, applied the tag on Maldonado's heel during a headfirst slide.
Correa's throw saved a run, but it didn't entirely save the inning. Three pitches after the out at the plate, Eloy Jiménez drove in Pham with a two-out RBI single to center field.
Woods Richardson saw the velocity decline on his pitches by a little more than 1 mph compared to his season average. He produced only three swings and misses against the 19 batters he faced, and he allowed seven hits.
The White Sox loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth inning after a double and two walks, which knocked Woods Richardson out of the game after 3⅔ innings. A run scored when Santana, at first base, dropped a line drive from Pham, and he hurriedly flipped the ball to second base when no one was covering the bag for an error.
It was just the second unearned run allowed by the Twins during their winning streak.