Chicago White Sox at Minnesota Twins

· Major League Baseball

Chicago White Sox

27-86, 10-46 Away

Final
2 - 6

Minnesota Twins

61-48, 31-21 Home

White Sox losing streak reaches 19 as Kepler hits go-ahead, 7th-inning homer in Twins' 6-2 win

“It can’t go on forever,” White Sox starter Garrett Crochet said. “Showing up to the field every day, we’re expecting to break the streak."

Chicago’s losing streak is the longest since Baltimore dropped 19 in a row in August 2021 and tied the seventh-longest since 1901.

The White Sox were held to three hits for the second straight night and to three hits or fewer for the 12th time this season.

“It's a lot of pressure,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “You can't afford to make mistakes.”

Kepler, who entered in the fifth inning as a pinch hitter, hit his seventh home run of the season. The drive to right off Touki Toussaint (0-1) sent the Twins to their 11th win in 12 games against the White Sox this season.

Willi Castro hit a two-run single in a three-run eighth on the 13th pitch of his at-bat against John Brebbia and Brooks Lee added an RBI single.

“There were some big moments in this game, but the Willi Castro at-bat, it's exciting for even us," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “You're pulling for him every pitch. He's fouling balls off, and then he gets one he wants and lines it.”

Chicago has been outscored 118-41 during its skid and has scored three or fewer runs in 14 of 15 games since the All-Star break. At 27-86, the White Sox are on pace to finish 39-123, which would be the most losses since the 1899 Cleveland Spiders of the National League went 20-134.

The White Sox have not won since July 10. Chicago has been outscored 81-38 in the eighth inning this year.

Chicago mustered just three hits Saturday, its 12th game this season with three hits or fewer.

Kepler homered three days after he was hit on the head by an attempted throw by New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez. Kepler did not play in Friday's series opener.

“I was honestly just trying to see how my eyes would react to two days off,” Kepler said. “I guess it took me an at-bat to muster his pitches together. I stayed within myself the second time around and was just more patient.”

Bailey Ober (11-5) won his third straight start, allowing two runs and two hits in seven innings. His last loss was to the White Sox on July 10.

Crochet allowed one hit in four innings, Ryan Jeffers' solo homer in the second. He threw 77 pitches.

“His stuff was really, really good,” Grifol said.

Brooks Lee hit an RBI single in the fifth against Toussaint.

Korey Lee hit a tying RBI triple in the fifth and Brooks Baldwin made it 2-2 with his first big league homer in the sixth.

The crowd of 38,289 marked the second sellout at Target Field this year.

MAUER HONORED

Prior to Saturday’s game, the Twins honored Hall of Fame inductee Joe Mauer, the catcher who spent his entire 15-year career with his hometown team. The Twins will unveil a bronze statue of Mauer outside of Target Field next year.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins shortstop Carlos Correa participated in on-field running and fielding drills as he works his way back from plantar fasciitis in his right foot.

RHP Chris Flexen (2-10, 5.13 ERA) starts Sunday’s series finale for Chicago, while Minnesota counters with RHP Simeon Woods-Richardson (3-2, 3.74).

How can I watch Chicago White Sox vs. Minnesota Twins?

TV Channel: White Sox at Twins 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on FanDuel SN North.
Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Twins: 72.5%

White Sox: 27.5%

*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Sheets popped out to shortstop.
	9th Inning	Sosa popped out to second.
	9th Inning	Benintendi grounded out to first.
	9th Inning	Duran relieved Jax
	8th Inning	Kepler lined out to right.
	8th Inning	Lee singled to center, Castro scored, Martin to second.

Statistics

CHW		MIN
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
1	Hit By Pitch	0
6	Ground Balls	7
9	Strikeouts	5
2	Runs Batted In	6
0	Sacrifice Hit	0
3	Hits	8
0	Stolen Bases	2
2	Walks	7
0	Catcher Interference	0
2	Runs	6
0	Ground Into Double Play	2
0	Sacrifice Flies	0
30	At Bats	30
1	Home Runs	2
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
8	Runners Left On Base	13
1	Triples	1
0	Game Winning RBIs	1
0	Intentional Walks	0
0	Doubles	0
15	Fly Balls	18
0	Caught Stealing	0
108	Pitches	167
0	Games Started	0
0	Pinch At Bats	1
0	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
0	Is Qualified In Steals	1
8	Total Bases	16
33	Plate Appearances	37
162.0	Projected Home Runs	324.0
2	Extra Base Hits	3
1.1	Runs Created	6.4
.100	Batting Average	.267
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.267	Slugging Percentage	.533
.233	Secondary Average	.567
.182	On Base Percentage	.405
.448	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.939
0.4	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	0.4
1.1	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	7.2
16.5	Batter Rating	42.5
30.0	At Bats Per Home Run	15.0
0.00	Stolen Base Percentage	1.00
3.27	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	4.51
.167	Isolated Power	.267
0.22	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	1.40
.061	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.189
.133	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	.300
4.0	Runs Produced	12.0
1.0	Runs Ratio	1.0
0.3	Patience Ratio	0.7
0.1	Balls In Play Average	0.3
65.8	MLB Rating	90.5
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0