Twins Offense Surges Past White Sox

Photo by Steven Bisig/USA Today Sports

Byron Buxton has the ability to be the Minnesota Twins premier offensive player when at his best. In the midst of a frustrating 0-26 hitless streak, Buxton broke through and homered in his first two at-bats on Friday night to help the Twins offensive surge past the Chicago White Sox in the first of a three-game series at Target Field.

The Twins fell into an early hole due to a leadoff home run from Andrew Benintendi but responded with a Alex Kiriloff two-run home run and a Buxton three-run homer to give the Twins a 5-1 lead. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Buxton and Ryan Jeffers each tallied a run with a solo shot to give the Twins a 7-1 lead.

The White Sox were able to reel Twins back in with an RBI single from Tim Anderson in the top of the fifth and a two-run homer from Yasmani Grandal in the top of the sixth to bring the game to a 7-4 score. In the bottom of seven, Kiriloff struck once again with a two-run double to center to give the Twins a 9-4 lead. Neither team would score the rest of the game.

Joe Ryan (9-6) earned the win, striking out ten in six innings. Lance Lynn (6-9) was handed the loss after coughing up seven runs through 6.2 innings and allowed eleven base runners.

Edouard Julien reached base three times today and extended his hitting streak to nine games. Julien, 24, has been scorching hot in July with a slash of .500/.568/.974 through 14 games. Including Julien, seven of the nine Twins in the starting lineup recorded a hit.

The Twins (51-48) have a two-game lead on first place in the AL Central over the Cleveland Guardians while the White Sox (41-58) are ten games back. The Twins and White Sox will meet again tonight and tomorrow; Dylan Cease and Sonny Gray are scheduled to start tonight, Lucas Giolito and Bailey Ober tomorrow.