Know Your Enemy Lite: Minnesota Twins

After winning one out of three in Detroit, the White Sox are back on the road to Minnesota to face-off against the Twins ... again. Hopefully, this series against them goes as well as last week’s did.

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Last Meeting

The White Sox swept the Twins! Josh Donaldson tried to feud with Ozzie!

And then, Donaldson made up a story about confronting Giolito! Donaldson also got booed a lot, and #DonaldsonFacts started trending on Twitter.

Gavin Sheets made his debut in the first game of the series on Tuesday and he racked up two hits and two RBIs. Yasmani Grandal hit two home runs during Wednesday’s game, giving him his 14th career multi-homer game (and 14 home runs for the season). This helped propel Dylan Cease to his fourth win of the season. Zack Collins, not to be outdone, hit a tiebreaking home run in the sixth on Thursday. Michael Kopech pitched a scoreless sixth inning, and Brian Goodwin hit a home run into the bleachers during the second. All in all, it was a good series.

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How’s it Going?

Things in Detroit could have gone a whole lot better. The White Sox took the first game of the series and lost the last two. Andrew Vaughn was angling for a personal highlight reel on Friday night with a home run and two amazing plays in left while Lance Lynn allowed one run on four hits. An inside-the-park home run by Eric Haase turned the tide for the Tigers in Saturday’s match-up, and was the first since Jacoby Jones hit one against the White Sox last August. Sunday saw Jeimer Candelario and Akil Baddoo offense drive the Tigers to a big lead, and even though the White Sox scored three in the ninth, they could not quite catch up.

Meanwhile the Twins didn’t fare much better in their weekend against the Royals, winning one of three, losing five straight before beating the Royals in the final game of the series. Griffin Jax, the first ever draft pick from the Air Force Academy, had his first career start and fifth big league appearance which resulted in him allowing six runs on eight hits and three walks over five innings while striking out three. Two games in a row for the Twins saw an early lead slip through their fingers. Kenta Maeda made an appearance on Sunday and, having rediscovered his control, struck out a season best 10 in six scoreless innings. Jorge Polanco, Max Kepler, and Alex Kirilloff homered to help the Twins win 6-2 and snap the losing streak. Considering both Nelson Cruz and Donaldson were slightly hurt on Sunday, this was a pretty decent case for the Twins having wasted a lot of money on two players who should be doing better than they have been.

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Pitching Matchups

Tonight is Dylan Cease vs. Bailey Ober. Ober is 0-1 this season, going 24 ²⁄₃ innings while striking out 26 and giving up 28 hits, walking six, and posting a 5.84 ERA. He’s faced the White Sox twice in his career, most recently during his last career start on Wednesday. He was granted the loss, lasted 3 ¹⁄₃ innings, and gave up three home runs. His ERA against the White Sox is 11.05.

Cease came away with the win during his last meeting with Ober, lasting six innings while allowing three hits, two earned runs, and striking out seven.

Tuesday is Carlos Rodón vs. José Berríos. Berríos posted a no-decision for Thursday’s game, lasting five innings while allowing 10 hits and one home run. In his last seven games, he has gone 3-0 over 44 innings while allowing 43 hits and five home runs, striking out 40 and walking nine.

Rodón, who was recently tapped for the All-Star game, is 3-1 in his last five starts against the Twins. He’s lasted 24 ¹⁄₃ innings while giving up 22 hits, stiking out 35, and allowing one home run. His ERA is a giggle inducing 6.66 against the Twins.

Wednesday is Lance Lynn vs. TBD. Against Minnesota, Lynn is 1-0 over 16 innings, allowing two home runs and striking out 14 while walking nine. In 2021, he’s 8-3 over 84 ²⁄₃ innings while allowing 59 hits, striking out 99, and posting a 2.02 ERA. Lynn was also recently named to the All-Star team along side Rodon and Liam Hendriks.

Something else worth noting:

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We Still Hate Them: #DonaldsonFacts

To keep the trend going, here’s some #DonaldsonFacts because let’s be real, our reason for hating the Twins hasn’t changed but Donaldson has moved up a few notches on that list.