Twins catch lowly White Sox again

TWINS 6, WHITE SOX 3

Minnesota rallies after wasting early opportunities

Minnesota’s Byron Buxton (25) follows the flight of his ywo-run home run in the seventh inning of the Twins’ victory over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night at Target Field. PHOTOS BY ABBIE PARR — ASSOCIATED PRESS

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By Betsy Helfand

bhelfand@pioneerpress.com

The first time the Twins loaded the bases, Carlos Correa rocked a hard line drive right at second baseman Brooks Baldwin, resulting in a double play.

The second time they loaded them, Byron Buxton took a pitch looking to end the inning, a questionable call that did not go the Twins’ way.

The third time they did it, Harrison Bader was robbed of a hit by center fielder Luis Robert Jr.

Against a better team, all those runners left on base during the first three innings likely would have spelled trouble. Against the Chicago White Sox, it just meant that the Twins broke the game open a little later than they would have otherwise.

The Twins pulled away from the White Sox in the later innings on Wednesday night at Target Field, winning 6-3.

“We had a lot of opportunities, that’s for sure,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Sometimes that can drag you down after a few innings of that, not bringing them home. But that didn’t happen. We kept pushing.”

Runs in the third and fourth innings on RBI singles from Ty France and Trevor Larnach gave the Twins (9-15) a 2-0 lead. France brought home rookie Luke Keaschall, who was on base three times again on Wenesday, doubling and stealing two bases as the hot start to his major league career continues.

Larnach’s RBI hit came against a left-hander, bringing home Edouard Julien after the fellow lefty had doubled off Brandon Eisert.

“It’s a huge lift when a left-hander can go out there in an important spot,” Baldelli said. “It’s a big thing.”

But the White Sox (5-19) erased that lead an inning later.

Starter David Festa, who had worked around traffic for most of his start and said he didn’t feel as sharp as he had in previous outings, issued a walk and allowed a single to lead off the fifth, spelling the end of his night. Three runs ended up scoring in the inning, giving the White Sox a lead they held ever-so-briefly.

But the Twins, who had no problem getting baserunners on Wednesday, punched back with a France walk and Ryan Jeffers single setting up Brooks Lee’s RBI knock in the fifth.

“We needed to come back and make something happen there,” Baldelli said. “They pull ahead, and you want to come right back there and grab the energy.”

Larnach, who has been heating up at the plate, hit a home run out to right an inning later, giving the Twins the lead again in the sixth. He said he didn’t think he had enough on it to get it out, but it just cleared the wall.

“I hit it off the end of the end of my bat, but I guess it makes up for the 111 (mile per hour) outs,” Larnach said. “I’ll take whatever I can get.”

And an inning later, Buxton’s fifth home run of the season, a two-run shot, opened up a three-run lead for the Twins, who got scoreless innings from Justin Topa, Griffin Jax, Brock Stewart and Danny Coulombe to lock down their second consecutive win.