September 3, 2020

Twins go from losing streak to winning streak after series win over Chisox

The Twins made it two wins in a row on Wednesday after a convincing 8-1 win over the Chicago White Sox. Jose Berrios gave the Twins another quality start and Josh Donaldson, who missed all of August with an injury, returned to the lineup and had two hits, including a double.

Berrios has been uneven this season, but he found a groove on Wednesday, striking out eight batters over six innings to improve to 3-3 on the season with a 4.29 ERA. Relievers Jorge Alcala and Devin Smeltzer closed out the game with three innings of scoreless baseball.

Berrios received plenty of support. The Twins had five extra-base hits, including three home runs from Jake Cave, Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario.

Randy Dobnak gets the ball Friday against the Detroit Tigers.

Extra innings…

-The Twins are now 22-16, still 1.5 games back of the league-leading Cleveland Indians. After the Tigers swept the Twins in Motown, it’s time for a little payback. They play a doubleheader on Friday, then games on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The Twins are 14-4 at home. A sweep or a series win gets the season turned around in a hurry.

-Potential bad news: Max Kepler and Luis Arraez left Wednesday’s game with apparent injuries.

-The White Sox clearly are a team on the rise, but boy do they need to work on their fielding. The Pale Hose committed eight errors over three games, including four in Wednesday’s loss. Four of the Twins’ eight runs were unearned.

-Hall of Fame pitcher Bert Blyleven announced he is leaving the broadcast booth after 20-plus years on the job.

Thanks, Bert, for making me and my son’s first trip to Target Field a memorable one. You pelted us with grapes to get our attention, then threw us a signed baseball. That game was rained out, so we came back the next day and you threw us another signed ball. Thanks again.

COMMENTS

Hi, I’m Rolf Boone, Twins fan.

I became a fan of the Minnesota Twins after a friendly wager in the early 1980s. I survived Ron Davis, the meltdown in Cleveland, Phil Bradley at the Kingdome and then marveled at a rising generation of stars and two World Series wins in 1987 and 1991. Brad Radke made the 1990s bearable, while Kirby Puckett’s eye injury, exit from the game and eventual death made it almost too much to bear. The new century ushered in more talent — Joe Mauer, Johan Santana, Joe Nathan, Torii Hunter, Justin Morneau — and consecutive seasons of playoff baseball, followed by consecutive seasons of losing baseball. A winning season returned in 2015. So here we are. Go Twins.