Twins homer twice, salvage split with White Sox
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 [July 22, 2021]
Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco
homered to back five strong innings from Michael Pineda and boost
the visiting Minnesota Twins to a 7-2 victory against the Chicago
White Sox on Wednesday night.
Kepler and Polanco, who both also homered Tuesday, combined for five
of the Twins' 11 hits as Minnesota salvaged a split of the four-game
series. Polanco went 3-for-4 and finished a triple short of the
cycle.
Chicago stranded eight runners and went 2-for-8 with men in scoring
position while grounding into four double plays.
Kepler opened the scoring while leading off the third inning,
clanging a solo home run off the right field foul pole.
Adam Engel legged out an RBI infield single in the bottom of the
third to tie the game at 1. The White Sox flashed their speed
earlier in the inning, as Billy Hamilton doubled and stole third
base before Tim Anderson walked and stole second.
Pineda, who has dealt with inconsistency and injury, earned his
first victory since May 26. He yielded one run on four hits and a
walk while striking out three. Pineda (4-5) threw 48 of his 73
pitches for strikes.
Minnesota relievers Tyler Duffey, Alex Colome and Caleb Thielbar
limited the White Sox to one run over the final four innings.
Polanco's three-run blast in the sixth provided valuable insurance
for the Twins bullpen. Polanco delivered his 14th round-tripper of
the season, connecting against Chicago reliever Codi Heuer with two
outs.
White Sox starter Dylan Cease (7-6) scattered three runs on seven
hits and two walks in five innings. He fanned five.
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Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Dylan
Cease (84) delivers against the Minnesota Twins during the first
inning at Guaranteed Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA
TODAY Sports
After retiring the first two batters
in the Minnesota fifth, Cease surrendered three consecutive hits,
the last coming off the bat of Josh Donaldson, who grounded a
two-run single up with middle to give the Twins a 3-1 lead.
Cease is 1-4 with a 7.64 ERA in seven career starts against the
Twins.
Chicago's Andrew Vaughn had an RBI double in the eighth inning and
joined Anderson and Hamilton with two hits each.
Yoan Moncada, who hit an eighth-inning double for the White Sox, has
reached base in 24 of his past 25 games.
--Field Level Media
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