CHICAGO -- It’s May. That has to underline any further conversation about this week’s series between the currently playoff-positioned Twins and White Sox. It’s May. There are four months left in the season, because it’s May.
With that said, the first two games of this four-game series have felt like they’ve carried a little weight. Minnesota beat Chicago, 5-3, on Brooks Lee’s three-run 11th-inning double on Tuesday, capping a game that followed a conventional script for seven innings before getting awfully convoluted. In the Twins clubhouse, the team’s fifth win in six games definitely felt like it had a little extra oomph.
“One thousand percent,” said Byron Buxton, who scored from first on Lee’s double.
The Twins led, 2-0, after seven innings behind a dominant Joe Ryan. But that was only the prelude. The meat of this game started in the bottom of the eighth. Here are five turning points for a game that went from comfortable to crazy.
Murakami takes Ryan deep
For seven innings, Ryan was in complete control. His pitch count was low, and manager Derek Shelton decided to give him the eighth -- even though the White Sox had three lefties coming up and the top of the order was about to bat for a fourth time.
“I understand people will think, ‘Well you could’ve gone to [Anthony] Banda there,’” Shelton said. “Completely get that. I was using my eyes and I thought Joe had pitched well enough to deserve that.”
It was a completely defensible decision that didn’t work out. Ryan allowed a single to Rikuu Nishida, and then with one out, the dangerous Munetaka Murakami crushed a hanging slider from Ryan to tie the game. The Twins were going to have to keep working for this one.
Lee called for interference
They did, in fact, keep working. Lee led off the bottom of the ninth with a single. Pinch-hitter Josh Bell hit a grounder to third, and Lee appeared to beat out the front end of the double play. However, he slid past the bag, and was called out for interference. A potential threat was extinguished.
“I was just trying to slide hard and late,” Lee said. “I wasn’t trying to go over the base … but I guess I did. I was a little out of control.”
Bell turns a quirky double play
After the Twins failed to score in the top of the 10th, they found themselves in a tricky spot in the bottom half. With runners on the corners and one out, Murakami faced Taylor Rogers, needing only a sacrifice fly or a grounder through a drawn-in infield to win the game. He didn’t get it.
Instead, he hit a soft sinking liner straight to Bell at first. The veteran snagged the ball on a very short hop, kept his composure, and in quick succession tagged both first base and baserunner Sam Antonacci. Inning over.
“I didn’t know where [Antonacci] was until I turned around,” Bell said. “I was going to throw to second base. But then when I saw him retreating, I was like, ‘OK, the play is right in front of me.’”
Buxton walks on a challenge
Given extra life, the Twins didn’t waste it. With pinch-runner Ryan Kreidler as the automatic runner at second, Luke Keaschall beat out an infield hit. James Outman struck out, bringing up Buxton. He worked a 3-1 count against Tyler Davis before Davis threw a slider that was initially ruled a strike. Buxton knew better. He challenged, the ball was more than an inch outside, and Buxton took first to load the bases with one out.
“I'm confident,” he said. “No doubt. East to west, I'm all right. North and south we’re still working.”
Lee wins it
That brought up Lee, who if he was still frustrated by the interference call didn’t show it. The third-year infielder, who has more than his share of game-winning hits for his relatively short career, fouled off a pair of fastballs up in the zone from Davis. But Davis didn’t locate his 0-2 splitter, leaving it in the strike zone, and Lee made him pay. He drove a liner into the corner in right, scoring all three runs and delivering the win. Yoendrys Gómez closed it out and the Twins had a hard-earned win.
“After the first one, I thought I could still handle the fastball,” Lee said, “and the second one kind of the same swing. But it’s all right as long as I’m swinging at pitches that are good ones to hit for my swing. And then luckily I got one elevated enough and made it happen.”