Ryan Jeffers delivered the kind of swing the Twins desperately needed Saturday night, and he did it with plenty on the line.
The Minnesota catcher launched a go-ahead, three-run homer in the fifth inning to spark a 6-4 win over the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field. It was Jeffers’ fourth homer in his last five games, and three of those blasts have come with two runners aboard. After the shot, he pointed his bat toward teammates in the dugout before letting it fall lightly as he started his trot.
“He’s one of the best offensive catchers in the game and I think tonight we saw why,” Twins manager Derek Shelton said.
Jeffers’ surge has come at a critical time for a club trying to stay alive in the American League wild-card race. The Twins are 3½ games back of a playoff spot with 20 games left after the Cleveland Guardians lost to the Detroit Tigers on Saturday. Minnesota still faces an uphill climb, needing a major push to catch the four teams in front of them.
The homer also fit into a big season for Jeffers individually. The Twins catcher, who is headed for free agency after the season, is now up to 14 home runs and 53 RBI in 78 games after driving a 416-foot blast off White Sox left-hander Anthony Kay.
Minnesota had to work back from an early three-run hole to get there. Kaelen Culpepper got the Twins’ first hit in the fourth inning, then scored on a fielder’s choice grounder before Brooks Lee added an RBI double.
The fifth inning is where the game turned. Ryan Kreidler was hit by a pitch, Luke Keaschall singled, and then Jeffers broke the game open for Minnesota’s first lead in 25 innings.
Culpepper added more insurance in the seventh, lining an RBI double to finish off an eight-pitch at-bat against White Sox reliever Sean Newcomb.
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