It helps that Jorge Polanco’s bat is showing sustained signs of life -- but beyond a needed resurgence from Minnesota’s second baseman, the same problems continued to plague the club on Tuesday night.
Polanco gave the Twins an early lead with a solo homer as part of a third straight multihit game, but things otherwise looked all too familiar in a 9-3 loss to the White Sox on Tuesday night at Guaranteed Rate Field. Once again, the Twins were bit by missed opportunities on offense and a bullpen that couldn’t hold a close game, with José Abreu’s two-run blast off Jorge Alcala in the sixth kicking off six unanswered runs off Minnesota’s relief corps.
“Not adding on runs, not being able to put up some zeros in the second half of the game, those are things that are going to lead to the outcomes we’re not looking for,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “We’re losing ballgames, and it feels like the storylines are similar every day.”
Polanco’s homer in the second inning off Chicago starter Dylan Cease was significant in that it came as a left-handed hitter, his first homer from that side of the plate since Aug. 30, following extended struggles as a lefty due to the persistent pain in his right ankle that was addressed in an offseason surgery.
“It's coming for him, and I think he's feeling good, too, when he steps to the plate,” Baldelli said. “He's starting to feel like his old self in a lot of ways, and I think the strength in his swing really from both sides, I think, is still getting better and improving.”
Polanco smacked another single from the left side in the seventh -- upping his line to .333/.393/.611 with three homers and four doubles in his last 15 games following a rough .167/.239/.217 start to the season. Then, Nick Madrigal committed an error on pinch-hitter Kyle Garlick’s grounder to second, and the Twins had the bases loaded with two outs, down by two.
One pitch later, Willians Astudillo grounded out to end the rally -- and once again, that was the story.
The Twins had two hits apiece in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings against a White Sox bullpen that has been shaky throughout the season -- and added a stolen base and also reached on error in that span. They didn’t push across any more runs and stranded 10 baserunners overall, going 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
They had left 16 on base in their previous contest, a 7-3 loss to Detroit.
“I think our guys have to pick each other up, and there’s only so much that I can say or the staff can say to get guys in the frame of mind,” Baldelli said. “It is frustrating. It’s very frustrating.”
Meanwhile, the bullpen struggled once again after Kenta Maeda was lifted at 87 pitches through five innings. While Minnesota’s offense couldn’t take advantage of its late opportunities, Chicago added six runs to its tally in what had been a tie game, with two apiece in the sixth, seventh and eighth off a combination of Alcala, Caleb Thielbar and Derek Law.
“I think this outcome so far is something that no one really expected,” said Maeda, who retired the last nine he faced. “The key to turn things around is just to stay locked in and keep grinding every day, work hard. That's all we can do, but staying locked in is what we need.”
Different day, same story -- and after all these losses, Baldelli acknowledges that, too. It’s just that this one counts more, coming against the rival atop the division.
The Twins are scoring early, having entered the game fourth in the AL with 64 runs scored in the first three innings -- but their 35 runs scored in the final three frames ranked 11th. They plated three in the second on Polanco’s homer, an RBI hit-by-pitch and a sac fly -- but the scoring stopped there.
That, in turn, puts pressure on the bullpen, which carried the second-highest ERA in the AL entering Tuesday.
The work continues -- but the answers remain elusive.
“We have to keep working and we have to stay -- continue really putting our heads together for what we can do for all of our guys, because it has been tough, and this is another game that has kind of shown some of the similar things that have happened to us previously,” Baldelli said. “It was a tough one.”