The Twins lineup erupts after an early deficit
With a big night from Nelson Cruz and Michael Pineda in their back pocket, the Twins lineup as a whole got off to a slow start against White Sox starter Reynaldo Lopez. As someone who is known as hot and cold, Lopez started off well holding the Twins without a hit in the first three innings, but as he headed into the fourth the floodgates opened up.
Max Kepler would hit his team-leading 34th home run of the season in the fourth inning to cut the lead down to 3-2 and Cruz would tie the game in the fifth inning off Lopez with his 33rd home run of the season.
With the game tied at 3, Cruz would break the tie with his 20th double of the season that drove in Jake Cave and Max Kepler to give Minnesota the lead. Eddie Rosario would extend the lead with a two-RBI single to make it 7-3, but Tim Anderson would hit a home run off Pineda to cut the lead down to 7-4.
Although it would have been easy for Twins fans to start sweating at that point, Minnesota would pour it on with a seven-run eighth inning that was blown open by a double with the bases loaded by C.J. Cron to put the game out of reach.
Up Next
The Twins will go for an important series victory as they wrap up their three-game series with the White Sox on Wednesday afternoon. Jake Odorizzi will start for the Twins as he looks to continue his strong month of August with a 2.08 ERA in three months.
The White Sox will counter with Lucas Giolito who has been up and down against the Twins this season. The right-hander tossed five shutout innings in a Chicago win on June 30, but got blasted for seven earned runs in a loss at Target Field back on July 25.
First pitch for Wednesday’s series finale will take place at 12:10 p.m. before an off day on Thursday. The Twins will open a three-game set with the Detroit Tigers at Target Field on Friday.