Order was restored in the universe, at least for a day, after the Twins picked up their first win of the season by beating the Chicago White Sox 8-3 on Tuesday.
Early on it didn’t look good. The Twins found themselves down 3-0, but then strung together a series of singles to rally for a 5-3 lead in the sixth inning. The bullpen shut down the South Siders from there, then Harrison Bader punctuated the win with a three-run homer in the top of the ninth.
The Twins scored their eight runs on 10 hits, including a double from Matt Wallner and two hits apiece from Ryan Jeffers and Ty France.
On the mound, Simeon Woods Richardson had a very SWR-like start. He wasn’t terribly efficient — 82 pitches across four innings — but he limited the White Sox to two runs on five hits and fanned five. The artist formerly known as Louie Varland served up the third run, but still emerged with the win.
The bullpen — the much vaunted Twins bullpen — did its job. Cole Sands, Jorge Alcala, Griffin Jax and Danny Coulombe dished out four scoreless innings to preserve the win. Alcala had a rough outing against the Cardinals, but he made up for it against the Pale Hose by striking out the side in the seventh inning on 13 pitches.
“We needed that. We needed that bad,” said first baseman Ty France to MLB.com. “We’ve put together a lot of good at-bats the last four games. It was nice to finally be rewarded.”
Extra innings…
-There’s only one winless team left in baseball: the Atlanta Braves, who have fallen to a shocking 0-6 to start the season. The Dodgers, meanwhile, and the Padres remain undefeated.
-Ex-Twin Max Kepler is off to a hot start. He had three hits, including a double and home run, scored a run and drove in a run in the Phillies’ 6-1 win over the Rockies on Monday.