Ryan Jeffers put the Twins on his back Saturday night, and Minnesota walked out of Chicago with a 6-4 comeback win over the White Sox.
The victory came after a rough opening stretch that put the Twins in a 4-0 hole almost immediately. Taj Bradley was hit hard in the first inning, when Sam Antonacci drew a leadoff walk, Munetaka Murakami sent a fly ball just over the left-field wall for his 30th homer of the year, and Colson Montgomery followed two batters later by blasting his 31st. Bradley had opened the night with a bad bounce and then a misplaced 0-2 cutter, and the Twins were suddenly chasing.
They started the comeback in the fourth. Kaelen Culpepper opened the inning with a single, Josh Bell followed with a double into the gap in left, and Royce Lewis worked a walk to keep the line moving. Kody Clemens got Minnesota on the board with a fielder’s choice grounder, and Brooks Lee stayed on a low fastball with two strikes to rip a double down the left-field line that cut the deficit to 3-2.
Then came the swing that changed everything. In the fifth, Ryan Kreidler was hit by a pitch, Luke Keaschall singled to right, and after Culpepper moved the action along, Jeffers launched a ball into the left-field seats.
That three-run shot gave Minnesota a 5-3 lead and sent the game in a new direction. Bell added another single up the middle to chase Anthony Kay, whose night ended in the fifth.
Bradley’s outing had a messy start, but he settled in after the first inning. He retired 10 straight White Sox after Montgomery’s homer and eventually handed the game to the bullpen with Minnesota still in front. The right-hander finished with 5.0 innings, four hits, four earned runs, two walks and six strikeouts on 80 pitches, 52 for strikes.
Chicago threatened again in the fifth after Chase Meidroth singled, advanced on a spiked offspeed pitch, and Antonacci walked. Miguel Vargas then drove in a run with a single, but Bradley struck out Murakami to keep the Twins ahead 5-4. Derek Shelton pulled him after five.
Minnesota’s bullpen took it from there. Kody Funderburk worked a clean sixth with help from some sharp defense from Keaschall in right. Culpepper then gave the Twins a little breathing room in the seventh, first coming within feet of a homer off an off-speed pitch before lining a 96 mph fastball down the right-field line for a 6-4 lead.
Jeff Hoffman handled the next four outs, and A.J. Minter worked through trouble in the eighth.
He struck out Murakami, then allowed a two-out double to Randal Grichuk, bringing Montgomery to the plate with the tying run at the center of the inning. Minter answered by blowing high fastballs past him to preserve the lead.
Yoendrys Gomez finished it in the ninth. Royce Lewis handled the first out, Gomez struck out Meidroth on three pitches, and Lewis calmly closed out the final out to seal the win.
Jeffers finished as the game’s top WPA performer, and his blast was the biggest swing in a night that also featured key work from Hoffman, Funderburk and Gomez.
The Twins now turn to Sunday’s finale, with Bailey Ober set to start against the White Sox as Minnesota tries to take its first road series since July 5 at Yankee Stadium. Ober, 7-4 with a 4.37 ERA, is coming off a no-decision last Saturday in which he allowed one run over five innings.
Chicago has not named a starter. First pitch is scheduled for 5:20 p.m.
CDT.
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