Twins Takeaways: Offense Goes Silent in Costly Loss to White Sox

The Minnesota Twins lost 4-1 to the Chicago White Sox in the series opener. This season, the Twins are 67-74. The offense was never awake in the game, and the Twins were put in an early hole from Zebby Matthews and never recovered.

Zebby Matthews' Outing

Minnesota Twins pitcher Zebby Matthews. Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It was not the best outing for Matthews, who surrendered three home runs in his five innings of work, totaling nine runs overall. Three of the four hits Matthews gave up left the ballpark. That is not the recipe for success. Matthews had had some success in his past few outings, including one last week against the White Sox, but tonight he struggled, as illustrated by Pitcher List Stats.

Zebby Matthews (MIN) allowed four earned runs in five innings against the White Sox pic.twitter.com/pc2M90CFMV
— Pitcher List Stats (@PitcherListPLV) September 5, 2026

Across the board, Matthews' stuff was down on Friday. That does vary from start-to-start, but it's important to note that this is a career-high in workload for Matthews, so it could be fatigue as the season is coming to an end.

Twins' Offense

Minnesota Twins shortstop Kaelen Culpepper. Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Twins offense was silenced by Erick Fedde and the White Sox bullpen, that has been the second best bullpen in the league since June 1, according to the TwinsTV broadcast. They saw Fedde last week and struggled against him as well. Fedde is far from the ace of the White Sox staff, and someone who the Twins should have gotten to, and they didn't.

The lone run from the Twins' bats was a solo home run off the bat of Josh Bell to lead off the ninth inning. They got a mini rally in the top of the ninth inning, but nothing materialized. That was their one offensive rally of the night.

#WhiteSox 4, #MNTwins 1

Josh Bell with a bomb to end the shutout. pic.twitter.com/IEpQkM8oi2
— Matthew Nethercott (@MattNethercott_) September 5, 2026

The Twins never got much traction today, which is not a good development. The Twins need to score to keep themselves in games, and in the series against Detriot, they did. Last weekend against the White Sox, they did not. Time will tell for the rest of this weekend if the offense comes to life.

Wild Card Race Update

Minnesota Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Friday could have sealed the deal. The Twins are now seven games back of the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central. They sit 4.5 games back of the Guardians for the final AL Wild Card spot. The Twins need to be as close to perfect as possible during the remainder of the eight games in a row they have left against the AL Central. They will have a chance because they see the Guardians next weekend at Target Field. Until then, the Twins need to stay the course, which will be a tough task.

What’s Next?

The Twins will play the middle game of the three-game series on Saturday against the White Sox. For the Twins, it will be RHP Taj Bradley, who is 10-6 with a 3.85 ERA. For the White Sox, it will be LHP Anthony Kay, who is 9-7 with a 4.28 ERA this season. First pitch Wednesday will be at 6:10 P.M. CT on TwinsTV.

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