MINNEAPOLIS — Edouard Julien started a fast and furious rally by snatching a 91 mph fastball from Michael Soroka for a solo homer.
Ryan Jeffers tied it with a solo shot lined up on the next shot.
After Chicago White Sox manager Pedro Grifol summoned left-hander Tanner Banks from the bullpen, the Minnesota Twins followed with a blooper, a 42 mph number and a hard single to left field.
That’s all it took to topple the White Sox on Thursday afternoon. Pinned by Soroka for five innings, the Twins needed 12 pitches in the sixth to reverse their fortunes against the woeful Sox, who lost for the 22nd time in 25 games thanks to Minnesota’s 6-3 victory at Target Field that crowned a four. -scanning of game series.
The White Sox are last in Major League Baseball in several offensive categories, including runs, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging. But the simplest way to sum up their team-wide futility might come by looking at home run totals. Their offense is last in home runs with 14 and the White Sox pitchers are the ones who have given up the most. Chicago didn’t hit a single one out of the park Thursday as it increased its home run total this season to 38 by giving up five to the Twins, including two from Julien.
It’s just in: #MLB rejected a request from #MNTwins play only the #WhiteSox for the rest of the season.
The Twins improve to 11-13 after a 6-3 win Thursday, their fourth straight win over the Sox.
They travel to Anaheim for three before playing three at the Sox starting Monday.
– DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) April 25, 2024
White Sox hitters Nos. 4, 5, 6 and 7 (Eloy Jiménez, Robbie Grossman, Andrew Vaughn and Kevin Pillar) each entered Thursday’s game hitting under .200. Andrew Benintendi, in the second season of a five-year, $75 million contract, hit for Pillar and struck out to lower his average to .165.
The White Sox are now 14 1/2 games behind the first-place Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central; they finished 26 games in 2023 with a record of 61-101. But one of the most frustrating things about a season that’s already spiraling out of control for the South Siders: Only the White Sox and Colorado Rockies have 0.0 percent playoff odds. according to FanGraphs – is that the futility of this season won’t necessarily help them in years to come.
The White Sox landed the 5th overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft. Since they are considered a large market team, they cannot secure a top-six selection in next year’s draft.
Chicago started its potentially historic season with four straight losses, and things have only gotten worse. After ending their early skid with a 3-2 win over the Atlanta Braves on April 2, they lost five in a row. They followed a 7-5 win over the Guardians on April 9 with six straight losses until winning the second game of a doubleheader against the Kansas City Royals. With Thursday’s loss at Minnesota, the White Sox’s current losing streak stands at seven games.
The 1962 New York Mets hold the record for single-season losses in the modern era with 120 in their inaugural season. They went 7-18 in their first 25 games.
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(Photo by Paul DeJong, Tanner Banks and Korey Lee: David Berding/Getty Images)