Late Home Runs Give Twins 6-3 Win Over White Sox In Bullpen Game

MINNEAPOLIS – White Sox manager Will Venable has been mixing and matching for most of the season, but Wednesday’s game against the Twins required that to perhaps the most extreme level yet.

With veteran left-handed starter Martín Pérez on the injured list, Venable turned to right-hander Bryse Wilson to begin the second of three games in Minnesota. By the end of a 6-3 loss to the Twins at Target Field, the White Sox wound up using seven total pitchers, three batters off the bench and put Joshua Palacios in the leadoff spot for the first time.

The game was tied through five innings, but the Twins’ bullpen had the upper hand and late home runs by Trevor Larnach and Byron Buxton were the difference.

“That’s a challenge every day just to figure out how to put these guys in the best spot to win the game,” Venable said. “It’s a challenge, but it’s a big part of the job and one that I’m grateful for.

With this loss, the White Sox fall to 5-19 and have the most losses in MLB, though the Rockies have just four wins. Venable’s club has lost nine of their last 10 games and 17 of their last 20, along with a 1-11 record on the road and a 1-10 record against American League Central opponents.

Wilson had starting and relief experience during previous stops with the Brewers and Pirates, but he had come out of the bullpen in his first nine appearances with the White Sox, allowing six runs in 12 innings.

Wilson was an escape artist in the first two innings. The Twins loaded the bases with one out in the first frame after a leadoff single by Edouard Julien, a Luke Keaschall double and a catcher’s interference on Matt Thaiss. Carlos Correa looked to open the scoring right away, but his 104.9 mph line drive zipped directly to second baseman Brooks Baldwin, who doubled off Keaschall at second to end the inning.

Wilson faced more trouble as left fielder Andrew Benintendi misplayed a deep fly ball in the second inning, which was ruled a double by Ryan Jeffers. The Twins loaded the bases again after Wilson hit Harrison Bader by pitch and walked Julien. Byron Buxton crushed a Wilson curveball, but the near-grand slam hooked foul. WIlson froze Buxton on the next pitch with a sinker on the outside edge to end the inning.

"I think just remaining calm,” Wilson said of working through traffic. “I think that's part of the bullpen experience that kind of comes back to help me a little bit. Just bases loaded, one out, let's try to turn a double play or get a strikeout and then get the guy out. But I think it's just staying calm, not letting it speed up too much on you."

The Twins finally broke through against Wilson in the third inning. Wilson walked Keaschall and Trevor Larnach on nine total pitches, missing all over the place. He nearly wiggled out of another jam by inducing a double play by Correa, but Ty France gave the Twins a 1-0 lead with a line drive up the middle against Wilson’s sinker that hit the middle of the zone.

Wilson allowed a single to Jeffers in the following at-bat, and his day was over. White Sox manager targeted about 60 pitches or four innings for Wilson, and he was pulled after 55 pitches. His final line read 2.2 innings, five hits, one earned run, three walks and two strikeouts.

Wilson said Wednesday was the best he felt physically all season, and he was glad to see an uptick in velocity. He wishes he was more aggressive and able to pitch deeper into the game, despite being on a pitch count.

Left-hander Brandon Eisert replaced him and got out of the third inning thanks to a sliding catch by center fielder Luis Robert Jr. The Twins put runners on the corners in the fourth inning after a leadoff double by Julien against an inside slider and a Keaschall groundout. Eisert struck out Buxton with a slider below the zone, but another slider caught too much of the zone against Trevor Larnach, who shot a ground ball up the middle for an RBI single to give Minnesota a 2-0 lead.

The White Sox put five total base runners on in the first four innings but couldn’t come through with a hit in key moments. They eventually got to Twins starter David Festa in the fifth, though. The rally began with a Baldwin walk, followed by a pinch-hit single by Bobby Dalbec. That was it for Twins starter David Festa, who was replaced by Cole Sands.

Sands struggled with command to start the inning, walking Joshua Palacios and handing the White Sox their first run with a wild pitch. Benintendi tied the game 2-2 with a single to shallow left-center field, just out of Buxton’s reach. Buxton was the hero in Minnesota’s 4-2 win on Tuesday, robbing Benintendi of a game-tying hit with a diving catch for the final out. There would be no robbery this time as Buxton pulled up short instead of attempting a diving catch.

The White Sox benefitted from a defensive miscue by Keaschall at second base. Edgar Quero’s ground ball usually would have led to an out, but it snuck below Keaschall’s glove and into the outfield for an error. Benintendi seemed to have obstructed Keaschall’s view while running to second as the White Sox took a 3-2 lead.

Dalbec stayed in the game and played shortstop for just the fifth game in his career and first time since 2023 with the Red Sox.

“That was a game plan coming in where we were going to use a pinch hitter if it was the right spot,” Venable said. “Get Jacob’s defense up front and also expose Bobby to the position. So it was a good opportunity to do that. I wish he had gotten some action over there, but I think that could be part of the game plan moving forward.”

The Twins acted quickly to take back that run. White Sox reliever Penn Murfee began the fifth with a four-pitch walk to France, missing low and outside. Jeffers moved him to third with a single, and Brooks Lee tied the game 3-3 by slapping a Murfee fastball the opposite way for a single.

After homering Tuesday, Larnach stayed hot with a 347-foot home run off of a Jordan Leasure fastball that stayed over the middle of the plate, giving Minnesota a 4-3 lead. Buxton provided insurance in the seventh, driving a Cam Booser cutter 414 feet with a 107.5 mph exit velocity for a two-run home run.

“We had to figure it out. We knew we were gonna have to cover some innings and push some of those guys — Leasure and Cam — up there to give us a chance to keep it close and in the ball game there,” Venable said. “We did the best we could without putting us in danger of not having coverage tomorrow at the same time.”

Twins relievers Griffin Jax, Brock Stewart and Danny Coulombe had some of their best stuff in the final three frames. Jax used his sweeper and changeup to strike out Palacios on three pitches, and he caught Robert Jr. looking with a low and outside fastball to end the inning. Stewart began the eighth with a walk, but he got Andrew Vaughn to chase a sweeper, then painted a changeup on the inside edge to strike out Thaiss looking.

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli didn’t use typical closer Jhoan Durán after he threw 32 pitches on Tuesday, so Coulombe was the choice to finish Wednesday’s game. After a Lenyn Sosa ground out, he caught Dalbec looking on a low and inside cutter, then finished the game by inducing a flyout from Michael A. Taylor.

The White Sox and Twins wrap up the series Thursday at 12:10 p.m. CT.

Related stories on the Chicago White Sox