CHICAGO -- When Keynan Middleton started last season with Triple-A Reno in the D-backs' organization, Gregory Santos was pitching for Triple-A Sacramento with the Giants.
They had lockers next to each other this Spring Training with the White Sox and became friends during the six weeks in Arizona. Now, they're becoming key contributors in Chicago’s bullpen, putting their work on display during a 6-4 victory over the Twins on Wednesday night at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Middleton struck out the side in the ninth, sandwiched around a walk to Jorge Polanco, to pick up his first save since May 30, 2021, with the Mariners against Texas. Santos pitched out of a bases-loaded, nobody-out situation in the seventh, working through the heart of the Minnesota order in the process.
Their work helped the White Sox capture a third consecutive victory and win their first series of the season after starting 0-8-1. For those who wrote this team off during a miserable April, well, there’s still a huge amount of work to be done.
But Chicago is also in the American League Central, where its less-than-stellar 10-21 record leaves it seven games behind the Twins (17-14).
“Yeah, it’s more uplifting and energetic for sure,” said White Sox starter Dylan Cease, who struck out six and allowed four runs over five innings. “It’s way more fun to win.”
“We have some making up to do,” Middleton said. “We are just starting to get going and rolling together.”
Santos, who has seven of the 10 highest-velocity pitches in the Statcast era for the White Sox, loaded the bases via three singles -- two of them infield hits. He slipped to the ground trying to field Polanco’s sacrifice-bunt attempt, setting the stage for Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton and Trevor Larnach.
Correa swung at the second pitch, hitting a soft grounder to shortstop Tim Anderson with the infield in. Catcher Yasmani Grandal scooped up the short hop for a force at the plate and the inning’s first out.
Buxton swung at the next pitch, a 99.6 mph sinker, and grounded back to the mound. Santos stopped the ball with his bare hand and threw home for the second forceout. He then struck out Larnach on a 3-2 slider, starting the at-bat with three fastballs over 100 mph.
“I’m happy to see [Santos] throwing the ball very well. That’s who he is,” Middleton said. “He deserves a shot.”
“Outings like this are what makes talent like that become special,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “They need these types of performances to continue to grow and develop.”
Eloy Jiménez put the White Sox ahead with a run-scoring single in the seventh, and pinch-runner Billy Hamilton scored from second on Elvis Andrus’ infield grounder to Polanco for an insurance run. That left the ninth up to Middleton, who worked 1 1/3 perfect innings in Tuesday’s victory.
Kendall Graveman only threw 10 pitches in the eighth. So, Middleton thought Graveman might return to close out the victory. Middleton was still ready -- he is always ready.
“When I came up in ’17 [with the Angels], [manager] Mike Scioscia loved me because I would take the ball every single day, back to back to back. I’m ready to compete every day,” Middleton said. “It’s been a heck of a journey.
“Didn’t even start here, and to come in here and throw in a lot of games off the bat, I appreciate it. I thank Pedro every time he does put me out there, even if it’s on back-to-back [days]. I need games, and I need to show what I can do.”
Each of Chicago's five games against the Twins this season have been decided by two runs or fewer, with the White Sox winning three. They'll go for their first sweep of the season on Thursday afternoon, after knocking off two other long-overdue benchmarks via team efforts.
“Find ways in the moment that you can to help,” Cease said. “We’ve had a lot of guys step up the last couple of days."
“Our comeback on Sunday was really important,” Grifol said. “There was some urgency in that game. The walk-off yesterday, and this was a really good baseball game by what I feel are two really good baseball teams.”