The White Sox have done it again! The team has carried this losing streak into August and started the series in Minnesota with their 18th loss. The sad part is, they started off fine. Andrew Benintendi was great in the outfield, and Davis Martin had a fairly decent outing. But it comes down to the bullpen (Chad Kuhl excluded) and well, only three hits. THREE. You can’t win a ball game with three hits, and if you’re the White Sox, you can’t win with two runs. There are plenty of new folks on the team, horrendous lineups, and the most uninspiring baseball I’ve ever seen.

Joe Ryan started the game by striking out the side. Perhaps that was the sign of how this game would go, but alas. Davis Martin had his first MLB start since coming back from the dreaded Tommy John surgery. He started with a strikeout then walked Trevor Larnach. Twins pain Byron Buxton struck out, but it quickly turned when Royce Lewis smoked the ball on a 3-2 pitch to put the Twins up by two.

The second inning would bring Gavin Sheets, who struck out swinging, and Andrew Vaughn, who fouled out. Benintendi, who is allegedly decent against Ryan and at Target Field (7-17), grounded out to second. José Miranda hit a one-out double in the bottom of the second, but he’s stranded at third thanks to a leaping catch from Benintendi.

Dominic Fletcher drew a walk in the third becoming the first baserunner for the White Sox. Then the new guy, Miguel Vargas tied the game with a beautiful two-run homer. While the White Sox benefited from a walk in the top of the third, they were left haunted when allowing Larnach and Buxton on base for Royce Lewis to knock in.

The top of the fourth was rather uneventful. The game still seemed winnable after Miranda tried going for two bases but was thrown out by plenty with a fantastic turn and toss from Benintendi to second. Justin Anderson replaced Martin with two runners on and two outs. Fletcher kept the Twins from causing any more damage by gloving what was nearly a three-run homer from Larnach to end the inning. 

Ryan had an easy inning in the fifth, but Anderson got himself in a bit of a pickle during his time on the mound. Thankfully he was bailed out by his team.

The Sox were retired in order, again. But Chad Kuhl, who took over for Anderson after the fifth looked great for the two innings he pitched.

Ryan finally started to show signs of struggle, giving up a 10-pitch walk to Benintendi. Ryan had reached triple digits, and with a close game was pulled. His walk was wasted of course. Benintendi answered back with two quick outs in the seventh, helping Kuhl retire six in a row.

Griffin Jax came out for the eighth and retired the Sox in order. Are we having fun yet? No? Well, buckle up because this is where the fuckery begins. Welcome to the bottom of the eighth.

Steven Wilson started the inning by hitting Matt Wallner. Carlos Santana and Miranda both flew out to give the Twins two outs with pinch runner Austin Martin on second. Brooks Lee was intentionally walked leaving Wilson to face Christian Vázquez. What should’ve been an easy out to end the inning turned into a double that drove in two runs. Luis Robert Jr. ran over to cover left despite Benintendi being there. Perhaps it was a miscommunication, but no one caught the ball allowing it to drop in front of them.

As a reminder, there were two outs at the time. Willi Castro takes Wilson deep with a two-run homer making it 8-2. Not great! Before Pedro Grifol pulled his struggling pitcher, Wilson gave up a walk to Larnach. Prelander Berroa, who was called up ahead of the game replaced Wilson. Unfortunately, Buxton’s bat was awoken two-run homer. Berroa managed to strike out Lewis but the damage was already done and the Twins had a 10-2 lead.

Trevor Richards came out and handed Robert his third strikeout of the night, followed by two easy outs to end the game. That’s 18 losses in a row, folks!