Tag Archives: Chicago White Sox

2018 Twins Game Logs

Game 125 — Twins at White Sox

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Twins play the White Sox at "The Rate" tonight as they head into the last 6 weeks of the season. Last month I was at Guaranteed Rate Ballpark to see a Sox-Royals game and was pleasantly surprised at the ballpark. It was intimate with many "modern" facilities, open concourses, etc. A much more blue collar crowd than what you would find at Target Field, plus a lot of young, rowdy people. It was a fun Saturday afternoon. Interesting in that it feels like a suburban location. Ample parking, virtually no restaurants or bars in the neighborhood, view of the Interstate.

Jose Berrios up against Michael Kopech tonight. This will be the Major League debut for Kopech and Sox fans are excited. He was the key piece in the Chris Sales trade a couple of years ago and he is a 23-year old flame thrower, touching 100 mph with his fast ball (duh) relatively consistently. Apparently there is video of him hitting 110 mph on a radar gun, but some stories are that was rigged. He walks a ton too, which must be terrifying for a batter. Should be interesting to watch, the White Sox sure hope his debut is better than Gonsalves was last night.

Game at 7:10p Look for HJ in the crowd.

2018 Twins Game Logs

Game 75 — Twins at White Sox

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Twins embark on the great Upper Midwest Baseball Tour(TM) with a three game stint against the Southside Pale Hosers. At 25 games under .500, the Sox are as bad as advertised so it would be nice to take all three games this week before heading into the friendly confines of Wrigley over the weekend.

Lance Lynn on the mound for the Twins. He's as excruciating slow as ever, but at least he's been productive with a 4-1 record and 1.73 ERA in his last 5 starts. Reynaldo Lopez on the mound for the White Sox, coming off a pretty bad outing against Cleveland (or was it Toronto?). Game may take 3.5 hours but I like the Twins chances.

First pitch at The Rate. Potential for rain is receding in Chicago, so hopefully the tour can start off with a win.

2018 Twins Game Logs, Game Logs, Minnesota Twins, MLB

2018 Game 59 – White Sox at Twins

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What a goofy club. Win series' against the teams ahead of you in the standings: took 2/3 against Detroit and 3/4 against Cleveland, but lose to those chasing you: only 1/3 against KC and in danger of losing 3/4 against Chicago.

In an attempt to salvage a split with the South Siders, the Twins give Jose Berríos the ball whose lone loss in the past four starts was a no-show by the Twins offense in Seattle - 1 run on 4 hits. Jose scattered 8 hits over 7 1/3 innings, allowing only 2 earned runs (the 2nd the result of walking his last batter faced and Duke & Reed combining to untie the 8th inning tie ... in Seattle's favor) while striking out 8 and walking 1.

White Sox counter with 36-year-old RHP James Shields, owner of a 1-6 record on the year with a 91 ERA+, 4.27 FIP & 1.258 WHIP. In his last outing against Minnesota (May 6), Shields left in the 7th with one out, a one-run Chicago lead and runners at the corners. His replacement, Luis Avilan, promptly gave up a 2-run double to Logan Morrison.

Let's see what these two mediocre teams have to offer today.

2018 Twins Game Logs

Game Log Games 56 and 57 — White Sox and Twins

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We have a doubleheader today and it's one of those old fashioned doubleheaders where they don't clear out the stadium between games. In celebration, we'll have a doubleheader game log too. No need to find a new game log for game two. All its all right here.

Twins against White Sox and again, if the they want to be competitive in the AL Central, sweeping the double against the Whities is imperative for the Twins.

Twins putting up a couple of rookies against Chicago. Fernando Romero in game 1, and Zack Little in game 2. According to the Strib, Zack Little was "acquired from the Yankees for Jaime Garcia last July, was 0-3 with a 5.87 ERA at Class AA Chattanooga before being promoted to Class AAA Rochester. He’s 1-1 with a 2.57 ERA in five outings for the Red Wings, including four starts. In 28 innings, Littell, 22, has given up eight earned runs on 20 hits and 10 walks with 30 strikeouts." he's only up for the doubleheader so hopefully he takes the opportunity to impress Molitor and the gang, while also enjoying some sweet big league perks.

White Sox are putting up someone called Reynaldo Lopez and Lucas Giolito who have records and stats you would associate with a team 20 games under .500 on June 5th. Both are young however. Not sure if they fit in the Sox overall plan.

First game at 3:10. Looks like a gorgeous day for baseball. Let's play two!

2018 Twins Game Logs, Game Logs, Minnesota Twins, MLB

2018 Game 27: Minnesota Twins at Chicago White Sox

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The Twins are playing .500 baseball in May!

Holding down third place in the AL Central - 4.5 games behind the first place Clevelanders (16-13), despite managing a 2-8 in their past 10 games (3-12 in their past 15), they trail 2nd-place Detroit by 1.5 games and lead the Sox by 3 games. I don't see any snow in the Chicago forecast for this series, so that's nice.

Pitching

Today, off-season acquisition Jake Odorizzi (2-2, 3.94, 109 ERA+, 5.81 FIP, 1.375 WHIP) hopes to pick up where rookie (and #2 Twins prospect) Fernando Romero left off yesterday*. In his last start against Cincinnati, Odorizzi went 6 innings, scattering 5 hits and 2 walks while allowing only 1 ER. He has averaged slightly more than 1 homerun per start this year, but is also pacing himself with 2 ER's per start as well. A good long start today would be pleasing.

On the mound for the White Sox is Reynaldo López, a 24-year-old who came over with another Chicago starter (Giolito) in the Adam Eaton trade. 0-2 on the year, López has been good in 5 starts this year with a 1.78 ERA,  236 ERA+, 4.47 FIP and 1.22 WHIP.  He features a mid-to-high 90's fastball, good curve and a change. This year, he's averaged 6+ innings, 5 K and 3 BB per start with only 6 ER (and 3 HR) total. Also saw this on his Repository page - which further improved my opinion of him - explaining why his signing bonus from the Nationals was relatively low:

The lower signing bonus may have been because Lopez took several years off of baseball to finish his highschool degree, and signed at age 18.

Batting

With Dozier scuffling, and three other 'regulars' in yesterday's lineup with sub-Mendoza BA's, not to mention four with sub-.300 OBP, the Twins have been hitting ...intermittently, though not necessarily effectively. For the year, they're .198/.279/.297 with RISP - 70 SO's and .262 BABIP. Hope they can pick each other up a bit more as they try to climb out of the hole they've dug.

Editorial

Though admitting this may cement my place as local baseball history ignoramus, a quick search for the featured image of Comisky U.S. Cellular guaranteedRate Field, I (re)learned something that I may have known at one time, but seem to have forgotten. The Chicago White Sox began life as the St. Paul Saints! I will be looking for the foundation over lunch in the near future. I have an idea that I have seen it before, but need to be sure.

*that was a fun game to see... hope Romero continues his advance on securing a role in the starting rotation.

2018 Twins Game Logs, Game Logs, Minnesota Twins, MLB

2018 Game 11: Chicago White Sox at Minnesota Twins

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The Twins kick off their 2018 Central Division campaign against a young Chicago squad, (losers of 7 of their last 9 games). They went 11-7 against the 67 win club a year ago, the first under coach Rick Renteria. Renteria and GM Rick Hahn are likely hoping that trades of Sale, Eaton*, Quintana, Kahnle, Robertson and Cabrera in 2016 & '17 will begin to bear fruit.

*Today's starter for the Sox, Lucas Giolito was part of the Eaton trade with Washington. The 23-year-old has walked 7 and given up 8 runs in 11 2/3 innings to start the year, but as a former 1st round pick (#16 overall in 2012) with decent minor league numbers (3.18 ERA, 1.248 WHIP, 9.6K/9 in 497 IP over 6 seasons), and good numbers in his (limited) MLB appearances last year (7 starts, 45.1 IP, 2.38 ERA, 181 ERA+, 4.94 FIP, 0.949 WHIP), the boys should not take him lightly.

Opposing Giolito will be the Twins' José Berríos, their very own 23-year-old , former first rounder (#32 overall in 2012). With great numbers during 6 years in the minors (2.77 ERA, 1.075 WHIP, 9.6K/9 in 591 IP), it's safe to say that the big club has high expectations for the young Puerto Rican. Berríos started 25 games for the Twins in 2017, going 14-8 with a 3.89 ERA, 113 ERA+, 3.84 FIP and 1.229 WHIP. He accumulated 139 SO in 145.2 Innings Pitched and averaged 3 BB per 9. In 2018, José has already notched a win in his first career Complete Game, and been knocked out after 4 2/3 innings (5 ER on 6 Hits) in an 11-4 loss to Seattle. Excited to see which version we get in what may be the only "nice" game of the series.

I'll leave you with this: 1,998 - not too far off 2,000. I'm hoping some Citizen is able to bring us a in-person, personal clip of this momentous occasion.