This was a big series for what was left of the Twins’ postseason hopes, at least according to Twins fans:
The White Sox all but closed the door on the Twins.
All series, the Sox used some solid offense mixed in with some excellent pitching to complete the shortened series three-game sweep of Twins. Today, the timely offense mixed with some solid innings from Carlos Rodon for the victory.
Rodon threw four scoreless innings to start the game before a rough fifth inning made his afternoon shorter than we would’ve thought. However, the bullpen came in and locked things down while every White Sox starting hitter pounded out a hit en route to eight runs and 15 hits. Brian Goodwin and Zack Collins both went deep while Danny Mendick and the aforementioned Collins added some offense late to give the pitching staff some breathing room.
With the 8-5 victory, the White Sox improve to 48-32 on the year.
W: Michael Kopech (3-0) | L: Jorge Alcala (1-3)
Savant Leaders
Notable Performances
Carlos Rodon: 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, 23 Swinging Strikes
Rodon was better this afternoon than his line suggests, as some spotty defense led to a few extra runs on the board in that four-run fifth inning for the Twins. Rodon’s ERA rose to 2.37 in the effort, but he continues to be well worth that $3M contract he got this offseason – and he’s likely going to get paid next offseason.
Brian Goodwin: 2-for-4, HR, RBI, BB
Goodwin continues to produce against RHP this year for the White Sox, and he has been a very important part of the White Sox’ recent turnaround. Goodwin homered for his second straight game, raising his slash line on the season to .268/.369/.536. Goodwin was always going to be a pretty decent signing for Rick Hahn – but he’s looking excellent right now.
Andrew Vaughn: 2-for-3, RBI
Andrew Vaughn has started to turn his season around against RHP, homering against Bailey Ober last night and adding another two hits today. Vaughn’s slash line is now .242/.314/.415 on the season, and he continues to have great at-bats as a rookie.
Zack Collins: 2-for-3, HR, 2 RBI, BB
Something I didn’t realize until the postgame show: Zack Collins’ home run today was his first career home run at Guaranteed Rate Field! Congratulations to Collins, who has been awesome against RHP.
Other Notables:
Jose Abreu: 2-for-4, RBI
Danny Mendick: 1-for-3, RBI
Yasmani Grandal: 1-for-5, RBI
Matchup of the Game
The matchup for the White Sox occurred any time Miguel Sano came to the plate today. Multiple times, the White Sox were in trouble and loaded the bases. Multiple times, Miguel Sano was unable to drive any runs in. Sano stranded nine baserunners today, and his struggles at the plate were a huge part of the White Sox’ win today.
Next Game
The White Sox head to Detroit to start a weekend series against the Tigers. Game one will see Lance Lynn face off against Casey Mize at 6:10 PM CT tomorrow.
Of note: the White Sox will play the series without Yoan Moncada, whose injury today has resulted in some swelling, according to Tony La Russa. The White Sox are hopeful that Moncada will be ready for the next Twins series.
Enjoy the sweep!
