Sunday, November 15, 2020

Great Lakes bracket: 2019 Twins defeat 1973 White Sox in six games

Game One: White Sox 3, Twins 2
WP: Wood (3-0)
LP: Romo (0-1)
Save: Stone (3)
HR: M Gonzales (1)

Game Two: Twins 9, White Sox 5
WP: Pineda (1-0)
LP: Bahnsen (0-2)
Save: Smeltzer (1)
HR: D Allen (2), P Kelly (1), Melton (5)

Game Three: Twins 6, White Sox 2
WP: Odorizzi (2-0)
LP: Wood (3-1)
HR: Sano (1), N Cruz (3)

Game Four: White Sox 12, Twins 9
WP: Kaat (2-0)
LP: Perez (0-1)
Save: Forster (2)
HR: Bradford 3 (4), Polanco (1), M Gonzalez (2)

Game Five: Twins 10, White Sox 2
WP: Berrios (2-0)
LP: Bahnsen (0-3)
HR: D Allen (3), Sano (2), Cave (1), Orta (1)

Game Six: Twins 4, White Sox 0
WP: Pineda (2-0)
LP: Wood (3-2)
Save: Rogers (2)
HR: Garver (1)

The Bomba Squad Twins overpowered the White Sox despite some bullpen hiccups.

Game One, in Target Field, featured one such hiccup. Marwin Gonzalez' fifth-inning homer gave the Twins a 2-1 lead, which Jose Berrios turned over to the bullpen after six innings of five-hit ball. Tervor May shut out the Sox in the seventh, but Sergio Romo gave up a walk and a double to open the eighth, and Taylor Rogers could not strand either runner. Wilbur Wood allowed two runs on eight hits in 8.1 innings for the win; Steve Stone fanned C.J. Cron wth a man on for the final out.

The Twins battered Stan Bahnsen for eight runs in five innings to even the series. Michael Pineda carried an 8-1 lead into the sixth, but gave up homers to Pat Kelly and Dick Allen to make it 8-4. Devin Smeltzer relieved and got the final 12 outs, allowing one run on a ninth-inning homer by Bill Meltson. Jorge Polanco had three doubles and three RBIs for the Twins, while Nelson Cruz, Cron, Jason Castro and Bryon Buxton each scored twice.

The series shifted to Comiskey Park for Game Three, with Wood starting on two days rest. The Sox scored single runs in the first and second innings off Jake Odorizzi, but Cruz gave the Twins a 3-2 lead with a third-inning homer. Miguel Sano had a two-run homer in the fifth as the Twins scored six runs off Wood in six innings. Odorizzi stopped the Sox for four innings, and Ryne Harper, Tyler Duffey and Romo each threw a scoreless inning.

Buddy Bradford homered three times in Game Four as Chicago evened the series with a pair of big innings. Bradford's three-run shot highlighted a five-run second inning that drove Martin Perez from the mound early. He hit another three-run homer off Romo in the third and a solo homer off Zach Littell in the ninth. The Twins scored six runs off Jim Kaat in five innings and another three off Goose Gossage in 1.2 innings, but Cy Acosta and Terry Forster held the Twins at bay after that.

Minnesota routed Bahnsen in Game Five, scoring four times in the top of the first and adding three more unearned runs in the fifth. Berrios allowed one run in 6.2 innings for the win. Sano homered, doubled and scored three times, while Jake Cave hit a three-run homer in the ninth.

Pineda and Taylor Rogers combined for a four-hit shutout in Game Six to clinch the series in Target Field, with Rogers getting the final eight outs. Gonzalez drove in two runs, one with a fourth-inning single and the other with a sac fly in the eighth. 

Player availablity: Byron Buxton sits Game One with an injury. Rogers should be limited to one inning at most in Game One.

Projected rotation: Berrios-Odorizzi-Pineda-Gibson-(Berrios)-(Odorizzi)-(Pineda). Deactivate Smeltzer, activate Gibson, shift Perez to the bullpen.

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