Twins get well the way they often have: By defeating the White Sox

Bobby Nightengale, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Apr 22, 2025

Published in Baseball

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MINNEAPOLIS — Pitching with runners on the corners and one out in the fifth inning in a one-run game Tuesday, Bailey Ober induced his first ground ball all night.

His reaction summarized it best: A fist pump and a scream as he walked off the mound following an inning-ending double play.

Ober, who high-fived his fielders in front of the dugout steps, wasn’t at his sharpest against the Chicago White Sox, but he was still quite effective. Ober permitted one run in six innings, stranding six runners in a 4-2 victory at Target Field in front of an announced crowd of 11,828.

Twins closer Jhoan Duran allowed the White Sox to load the bases with none out in the ninth inning through an infield single and two walks, but he received his second save of the season after a game-saving diving catch on the warning track from center fielder Byron Buxton.

As Duran jumped with his arms extended in the air, Buxton held up his glove before he stood and let out a yell.

The Twins, who ended a three-game losing streak, have won 13 consecutive home games against the White Sox, dating to April 2023. It’s the second-longest home winning streak against an opponent in club history, trailing a 17-game winning streak vs. Boston at Met Stadium from 1964-66.

Ober was inches away from giving up a solo homer in the first inning — Luis Robert blistered a line drive that deflected off the top of the left-field wall — and he kept finding ways to sidestep damage afterward.

Chicago loaded the bases with one out in the second inning after two singles and a walk. Ober yielded a sacrifice fly to Jacob Amaya, the No. 9 batter in the White Sox’s lineup, before ending the inning with a strikeout.

Ober stranded two more runners in scoring position in the fourth inning with an infield pop-up, and his fist-pump double play came after he gave up back-to-back singles to open the fifth inning. Ober struck out Robert before forcing Andrew Vaughn to hit a ground ball to shortstop in a 2-0 count.

The White Sox have five hits in their past 62 at-bats with a runner in scoring position.

After giving up a leadoff single in the sixth inning, Ober induced another double play. He allowed eight hits and one walk while striking out six, but two ground balls turned into four outs.

Ober, like last year, has bounced back well after a terrible season debut. Excluding his first start, when he gave up eight hits and eight runs in 2 2/3 innings to the St. Louis Cardinals, Ober has posted a 2.42 ERA with 20 strikeouts and four walks over his past four starts.

The White Sox, who have lost eight of their past nine games, spotted the Twins their first two runs with poor defensive plays. After Trevor Larnach drew a leadoff four-pitch walk in the second inning, Carlos Correa bounced a ground ball to first base. Vaughn, the White Sox’s first baseman, fired a throw to second to start a double play, but White Sox second baseman Lenyn Sosa saw the ball deflect off his glove and roll into shallow left field.

Larnach advanced to third on Sosa’s error, and Ty France followed with an RBI single he hit through the right side of the infield. The Twins failed to take further advantage of their first three batters reaching base with a double play and a strikeout.

Luke Keaschall drew a two-out walk in the third inning and stole second base. Larnach, the next batter, hit a dribbler that rolled about 10 feet in front of the plate. White Sox catcher Edgar Quero whipped a throw that plunked Larnach in the back. Keaschall, realizing no one was covering the plate as the ball briefly bounced away, scored from second base with a headfirst slide.

The Twins, finally, were on the other side of a routine throw to first base gone awry.

It wasn’t until the eighth inning when the Twins created their own offense as Griffin Jax and Louie Varland followed Ober with scoreless innings. Jax, who has struggled this year, struck out two batters and pitched around a one-out single.

Keaschall, again, drew a walk and swiped second base. After the Twins had totaled only two hits since the third-inning error led to a run, Larnach bashed a two-run homer to center field. Larnach, who connected on a fastball in a 2-0 count against Sox reliever Mike Vasil, has only two homers in 75 at-bats this year, and they’re both within the past four games.