Kepler shines in return, Paddack pitches a gem in Twins' win over White Sox

Edouard Julien also goes 3 for 4 with a solo homer in Minnesota's victory.

In his first game back from the injured list, Max Kepler needed all of one pitch to make an impact.

Kepler swung on the first pitch he saw — an 85-mph changeup from Chicago White Sox starter Jonathan Cannon — and took it into center field for a two-RBI double in the first inning.

Kepler wasn't done there, later hitting an RBI single in the third inning as the Twins found some offense in his return in a 7-0 victory over the White Sox Monday night at Target Field in Minneapolis in front of an announced crowd of 12,443 and roughly 250 dogs for "Bark at the Park" night.

"Really nice to feel the presence in the middle of the lineup like that and just start not wasting any time, just stand up there and knock some runs in and get the job done," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said of Kepler. "He looked good, he looked good from the moment he walked in the clubhouse today. He looked like he was just ready to play baseball."

And Kepler, who went 2 for 4 on the night with the double, single and the three RBIs, wasn't the only one who looked ready to play baseball. For starters, there was Twins starter Chris Paddack, who tossed seven shutout innings, allowing six hits while striking out 10 — the third time in his career posting double-digit strikeouts — to post his first win since July 2, 2021.

It was also a nice bounce back from his last outing at the Baltimore Orioles, who touched him for 12 hits and nine earned runs in an 11-3 Twins loss last Tuesday.

"For me personally, everybody knows, nine earned and (12) hits against a hungry lineup in Baltimore wasn't very fun," Paddack said. "To be able to bounce back and look myself in the mirror, knowing nothing's wrong, I don't need to change who I am or what I did. And tonight kinda speaks for itself."

It sure did. Paddack started his night with a trio of 1-2-3 innings before getting himself out of a jam in the fourth. With one out, Paddack gave up three straight singles to Robbie Grossman, Eloy Jimenez and Gavin Sheets to load the bases. But he got Andrew Vaughn to line out to Alex Kirilloff at first base before striking out Paul DeJong to get out of the inning without any damage from the White Sox (3-19), who have now been shut out eight times this season, once in each series.

Meanwhile, alongside Kepler, Edouard Julien provided some additional firepower at the plate, going 3 for 4 with a fourth-inning RBI double and a seventh-inning solo homer. He also hit a single in the third.

The Twins (8-13) as a whole feasted on Cannon, who lasted just 3 2/3 innings after allowing nine hits and six runs while striking out five. The damage started with Kepler's two-out, first-inning double and continued in the third inning when the Twins plated a trio of runs.

With one out, Julien singled and Trevor Larnach brought him home with a double to right field. After Ryan Jeffers lined out to short, Kepler got his second hit of the day, the single that scored Larnach. Then Willi Castro followed up with a double to bring Kepler back home. 

"I think Kepler coming back and hitting those two big two-out hits I think helped us, for sure," Julien said. "Just keep the momentum going, right?"

The momentum continued in the fourth inning when Kirilloff led off with a single to right field and Julien quickly followed up with a double to center field to score him the next at-bat. Then Julien's seventh-inning solo homer that went 375 feet into right field made it a 7-0 Twins advantage.

Ronny Henriquez pitched a pair of shutout frames and struck out two to close the game for the Twins.

"It's a good feeling as a starter when the guys come out and swing the bat early, take some weight off your shoulders and just get to go out there and pound the zone," Paddack said. "Really good plays behind me tonight, as well. ... Just as a team, it was a really good team win tonight."