Twins 4, White Sox 0: Cease desists

After a week in which Twins Territory saw the magic number to clinch the AL Central descend on a daily basis, Saturday’s loss to the Chicago White Sox coupled with a Cleveland Guardians victory kept it a static 7. No such stationary status today, as the Minnesota Twins shut out the Sox and breezed out of the Windy City with a series victory.

After four innings of trading outs, the Twins got to Chicago starter Dylan Cease first when a Ryan Jeffers single and Kyle Farmer walk set up an Edouard Julien oppo-taco for a 3-0 lead.

Photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images

Things get a little fuzzy from that point—mainly because I succumbed to the patented Sunday Afternoon Nap (TM). This was largely precipitated by my two-and-a-half-hour outdoor walk in the AM.

Anyway, the part of my brain which subconsciously recognizes exciting Twins moments woke me up in time to see Jorge Polanco poke one over the wall and extend the lead to 4-0.

Photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images

Meanwhile, amidst the homer-happy offensive attack, Sonny Gray was busy with his own masterpiece: 7 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 6 K, 0 BB. No random bouts of wildness to be found—it was smooth sailing against a Sox lineup without Tim Anderson or Luis Robert Jr. Similarly clean frames from Griffin Jax & Emilio Pagan preserved the shutout.

Your final: Minnesota Twins 4, Chicago White Sox 0.

The magic number is now 6!

Studs

• Gray’s mound dominance.

Photo by Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images

• Our fearless leader Ben for covering many Sunday recaps of late—regrettably all losses. The Sunday I’m finally back: a Twins shutout victory. Can a site moderator be banned for the postseason?

Duds

• The Texas Rangers for losing to Cleveland and preventing an even lower magic number.
• Me, for missing many Sunday recaps of late due to August vacations and September NFL Sundays.

Comment of the Game

• gintzer pointing out how the annoyingness of Ozzie Guillen almost single-handedly precipitated the entire Twins/Sox rivalry.