White Sox 7, Twins 6: Almost a comeback

Josh Donaldson got the game started by blasting a 2-run homer in the top of the first inning. Kenta Maeda struggled with his control today, allowing 3 walks and a run in the bottom of the first to make it 2-1, Twins.

The White Sox took a 3-2 lead in the 3rd inning on a walk and a few singles, scoring twice. In the 5th they broke the game open with 4 runs. There were several hits, some bloopers, a double, a sac fly, leading to a 7-2 score. Maeda’s day was done, Danny Coulombe replaced him, and the final line was: 4.2 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 5 BB, 4 SO. There was some bad luck mixed in there but ultimately the walks were the problem today for Maeda. Coulombe was pretty effective today, despite allowing an inherited run to score, he tossed 2 innings, striking out 3 with no other runs allowed.

The Twins rallied back in the 7th, though. Trevor Larnach, Nelson Cruz, and Max Kepler hit consecutive doubles to score 2 runs, and later Alex Kirilloff hit a grounder to drive in Kepler for the 3rd run, cutting the Sox lead to 7-5.

Unfortunately the Twins went 1-2-3 in the 8th. They did rally in the 9th against Liam Hendriks, scoring a run, but Alex Kirilloff struck out with the tying run at 3rd to end the game, 7-6.

The Twins only struck out twice tonight, which is (by my count) the fewest all year.

Studs:

Donaldson, Cruz, Larnach, Kepler

Duds:

Maeda, Jeffers (0-3)