Ryan Jeffers is starting to feel better at the plate, and the Minnesota Twins are feeling as good as they have all season.
The Twins will go for a three-game sweep of the hapless Chicago White Sox when the teams meet in the series finale Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Jeffers homered in the Twins’ 6-2 win over the White Sox on Saturday. Minnesota won the series opener 10-2 on Friday night.
“These last couple of weeks, I’ve started to feel like myself again,” said Jeffers, who leads the team with 16 homers but slumped before the All-Star break. “To put a game like today together, it feels good coming back to it.
“But we can’t win games just with me. (Starter Bailey) Ober did a fine job (Saturday). Up and down the lineup, we put up good ABs. So, props to everybody.”
Meanwhile, the White Sox are looking for a spark from anybody.
Chicago has lost 19 games in a row, which is a franchise record. The White Sox are creeping closer to the modern-era record of 23 losses in a row, set by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1961.
The White Sox also remain on track to set the modern-era record for most losses in a season. The 1962 New York Mets hold that mark with 120 losses in 161 games.
Chicago has been swept in five straight series and hasn’t won since defeating the Twins on July 10.
White Sox ace Garrett Crochet paused for a moment as he was asked about the team’s losing streak and how the team can break out of it. He started Saturday’s loss, pitching four innings, but took a no-decision.
“It can’t go on forever, you know?” Crochet said. “I feel like showing up to the field every day, we’re expecting to break the streak. And then it’s just like, (expletive), tough loss, you know?
“For the most part, I feel like we’ve been in most of the games that we’ve lost. Not even just on this streak, throughout the year. And it’s typically one play is the difference or one inning is the difference. That’s really all there is to it.”
Minnesota will send right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson (3-2, 3.74 ERA) to the mound in the series finale. He is looking to bounce back from a rough start against the New York Mets in which he allowed six runs on seven hits in 3 1/3 innings in a 15-2 loss on Monday.
Woods Richardson has faced the White Sox twice in his career. He is 0-0 with a 3.12 ERA in those outings, and he has walked three and struck out eight in 8 2/3 innings.
The White Sox will counter with right-hander Chris Flexen (2-10, 5.13 ERA), who is set to make his 22nd start of the season. He is seeking his first victory since May 8 against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Flexen, 30, is 1-2 with a 3.79 ERA in seven career games (six starts) against Minnesota. He is 0-0 with a 3.38 ERA in three games (two starts) against the Twins this season.
The Twins remain without shortstop Carlos Correa, who is still dealing with plantar fasciitis in his right foot and does not expect to return soon.
“I thought it would be a lot faster,” Correa said. “It hasn’t reacted that way, and whatever time it takes is what we’re going to take.”
–Field Level Media
