In the early days of the Twins’ season, they’ve been let down by their own defense too often.
On Tuesday, they were finally on the other side of that. Though hits were hard to come by for much of the night, the Twins were able to take advantage of a couple of Chicago errors and pulled away late, snapping a three-game losing streak with a 4-2 win over the White Sox in the series opener at Target Field.
In the second inning, down a run, shortstop Carlos Correa grounded a ball towards first baseman Andrew Vaughn. Second baseman Lenyn Sosa was unable to catch Vaughn’s thrown, and instead of it being a rally-killing double play, the Twins had two runners on and nobody out.
They got one run out of the situation when Ty France found a hole in the right side of the infield, sending a single to right and tying the game.
An inning later, rookie Luke Keaschall helped make things happen with his legs. After drawing a two-out walk and stealing second, some aggressive baserunning paid off. The next batter, Trevor Larnach, hit a little tapper. But when catcher Edgar Quero’s throw hit Larnach in the back, Keaschall kept running, speeding home from second.
He jogged home the second time around — after another walk and stolen base — scoring on Larnach’s two-run missile to right in the eighth inning, the outfielder’s second home run of the season.
For much of the night, it seemed like the White Sox were going to break through, putting baserunners on in seven of nine innings.
Starter Bailey Ober maneuvered around traffic all night, getting a pair of double-play balls and limiting the damage to just one run in the second when the White Sox loaded the bases.
Ober lasted six innings, giving up eight hits but just the one run, before making way for Griffin Jax. The reliever, who has struggled throughout April, pitched in the seventh inning rather than the eighth or ninth for the first time this season, working around a single to throw a scoreless inning.
Louie Varland, given a high leverage opportunity in the eighth inning, responded by sending down three White Sox hitters in order before Jhoan Duran came in for the save.
After loading the bases with no outs, Duran gave up a run before Byron Buxton made a game-saving catch, verging to his left as he ran back and then diving to corral a ball that would have driven in a pair of runs.
Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Bailey Ober (17) delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
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