Twins 7, White Sox 0: More of the same

The South Siders got shut out for the eighth time. At least Danny Mendick made a good return to the majors

In the opener of this four-game series in Minneapolis, the White Sox (3-19) fell behind early and could not catch the Twins (8-13). Ultimately, Minnesota ran away with this one, as the White Sox offense remained ice-cold.

The trouble started about as early as it could have. To the surprise of nobody, the White Sox were retired in order in the top of the first. Then, in the bottom half, after retiring the first two batters he faced, Jonathan Cannon issued a walk to Trevor Larnach. From there, Ryan Jeffers sliced a single up the middle, and center fielder Dominic Fletcher failed to throw out Larnach at third. In addition, Jeffers played F.A.S.T. by advancing to second on the unsuccessful throw to third. As a result, the Twins suddenly had two in scoring position with two outs. That extended the inning for Max Kepler, who had a golden opportunity to give Minnesota an early lead, and he took advantage by slicing a two-run double to right-center. Just like that, the Twins had 2-0 lead. Even though it was still the first inning, a two-run lead is nearly insurmountable if you are the 2024 White Sox. That turned out to be the case today.

After a smooth bottom of the second, Cannon ran into some more trouble in the third. With one out, Edouard Julien lined a sharp single to center, and Larnach launched a double into the right-center gap to drive in another run. The hit parade continued with a single by Kepler, who collected his third RBI of the game. Finally, Willi Castro launched a double to left-center that nearly left the yard. That was the final hit of the inning, but the damage had been done, and the score was 5-0.

Meanwhile, at that point in the game, zero White Sox hitters had reached base safely. The first White Sox hitter to reach base was Robbie Grossman, who singled with one out in the fourth. After that single, the White Sox offense uncharacteristically showed some life. Eloy Jiménez and Gavin Sheets collected back-to-back infield singles to load the bases with one out. The placement of the grounders by Jiménez and Sheets was fantastic, but the subsequent batter, Andrew Vaughn, was not so lucky. Vaughn made solid contact, but first baseman Alex Kirilloff was positioned well enough to make a nice catch. Twins starter Chris Paddack extinguished the threat by striking out Paul DeJong for the third out.

Paddack, who entered this game with an 8.36 ERA and a 6.92 FIP, finished with seven shutout innings, and he collected 10 strikeouts without issuing any walks. Facing the White Sox was just what he needed to get back on track.

In the bottom of the fourth, Cannon retired the first two batters he faced, but after a single by Kirilloff and a double by Julien, it was 6-0, and Cannon’s outing was over. Unfortunately, he was unable to follow up his strong debut against Kansas City last week with another good performance.

For good measure, the Twins added another insurance run in the seventh, when Julien took reliever Chris Flexen deep. That was the last run of the game, as reliever Steven Wilson pitched well in the eighth — but that was far too little, far too late.

On the bright side, Danny Mendick and Nicky Lopez each collected two hits. Mendick, who was red-hot with the Charlotte Knights last week, has provided one of the few happy storylines from the organization this season.

The White Sox will be back in action tomorrow in Minnesota. That game is also scheduled to begin at 6:40 p.m. Central, on NBC Sports Chicago. WMVP 1000 AM will have the radio coverage. Erick Fedde and Pablo López are the probable starting pitchers, and we hope to see you then.

Futility Watch

White Sox 2024 Record 3-18, worst 22-game start in White Sox history (beating out 1942, at 4-18), tied with four teams for second-worst in MLB history
White Sox 2024 Run Differential -78, tied for third-worst 22-game start in MLB history
White Sox 2024 Season Record Pace 22-140 (.136)
Race to the Worst-Ever White Sox Record (1932, 52-109-1*) 30 1⁄2 games ahead
Race to the Most-Ever White Sox Losses (1970, 106) 34 games ahead
Race to the Worst-Ever American League Record (1916 A’s, 38-124*) 16 games ahead
Race to the Worst-Ever MLB Record (1899 Spiders, 21-141*) 1 game behind
*record adjusted to a 162-game season