The Twins may only have 68 wins on the year, but the ability to come back from deficits both early and late seems to have defined manager Derek Shelton’s early tenure with the team. Tonight, down 3-0 after the first inning, Minnesota put together a midgame rally to even the series one apiece, and deliver Taj Bradley his 11th win of the season.
Bradley’s start lasted just five frames and featured early damage, with Munetaka Murakami becoming the first Japanese rookie to hit 30 homers after drilling a two-run shot with one out in the first. Two batters later, Colson Montgomery went yard again, and it looked like the start of another homer-happy evening from the hometown nine.
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But Bradley settled in through the next three innings, and by the time the lineup turned over to face Chicago starter Anthony Kay a second time, they were ready to get to work. Kaelen Culpepper (hitting second in the order tonight) singled to lead off the fourth, then moved to third on a Josh Bell double and scored on a bases-loaded fielder’s choice play that made it 3-1 Chicago with two outs. With two on, Brooks Lee delivered an RBI double to trim the lead to one.
Then, in the fifth, the Minnesota bats knocked Kay out of the game. Ryan Jeffers’ 14th homer of the year, a one-out, three-run blast, flipped the score to 5-3 Twins and would usher in Kay’s exit just two batters later. And while the White Sox would get to Bradley one more time — Miguel Vargas’ RBI single in the bottom half of the inning made it a one-run game again — the Twins had the final say with a 7th-inning RBI double from Culpepper, who had two hits, an RBI, and scored twice in the game.
A combination of Kody Funderburk, Jeff Hoffman, A.J. Minter, and Yoendrys Gomez held the Sox to two hits and no runs through the final four innings, with Gomez notching his unexpected 21st save of the season in a perfect ninth inning.
The Twins have a chance to win the series tomorrow, as their quest for .500 stays alive here in the final weeks of the season. Hope to see you then!
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STUDS:
Bullpen (4 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 6 K)
RF Luke Keaschall (2-for-5, 2 R)
SS Kaelen Culpepper (2-for-5, 2 R, RBI, 2B)
C Ryan Jeffers (1-for-4, R, 3 RBI, HR)
DH Josh Bell (2-for-4, R, 2B)
DUDS:
NO DUDS! TWINS WIN! TWINS WIN!
