Crochet pulled after 4 innings with pitch count climbing

MINNEAPOLIS -- Just like they did the last time Minnesota faced White Sox starter Garrett Crochet at Target Field, the Twins came into Saturday’s game with a purposeful plan.

Ultimately, they executed that plan, fouling off 19 of Crochet’s pitches, driving up his pitch count, and getting the Chicago All-Star pitcher out of the game after four innings.

“This outing was very similar to the one he had here before, where they just hit a ton of foul balls,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “His fastball/cutter was a little bit up in the zone today, so they were able to clip those pitches. We had him today right around 75 [pitches], but once he had that one inning where his pitch count got up there, he was going to be done after four.”

Minnesota finally broke the game open in the eighth inning against the Chicago bullpen, handing the Sox a 6-2 defeat on a night when the Twins honored recent Hall of Fame inductee Joe Mauer before a sellout crowd at Target Field.

The game started promisingly enough as Crochet set down the Twins in order, striking out Royce Lewis to end the first inning.

Crochet also needed just 13 pitches to get out of the second inning, inducing Carlos Santana into a tailor-made 6-4-3 double play. His only mistake came when Ryan Jeffers rode a 94 mph cutter to left field.

The 25-year-old ran into more trouble in the third inning when he walked the bases loaded. He eventually got out of the jam by getting Jose Miranda to ground out to short, but not before throwing 34 pitches.

It wasn't his most dominant outing, but Crochet battled, allowing one run on one hit while issuing a season-high four walks and striking out two, giving way to Touki Toussaint after throwing 77 pitches.

“[I] felt like my stuff was playing well,” Crochet said. “Not throwing a lot of strikes and I dug myself a hole from that. But yeah, the stuff was really good.”

As such, Crochet is expected to remain in the rotation for the time being.

“He’s going to be as scheduled,” Grifol said. “How many pitches? I’m not sure. That’s something that’s going to be determined on how he feels.”

Leading off the sixth, rookie shortstop Brooks Baldwin provided a rare offensive highlight when he ambushed a Bailey Ober fastball at the top of the zone for his first home run in the Majors.

For the second night in a row, however, Chicago could only muster two runs on three hits. As Grifol knows, an offense that has struggled all season puts added pressure on starters and relievers to be near perfect.

“Our guys are coming in with a really good game plan,” Grifol said. “Sometimes, they execute that game plan and still don’t get anything out of it.”

The loss is the 19th straight for the White Sox, the longest losing streak in MLB since Baltimore lost 19 in a row in 2021. It also means the Sox are two defeats away from tying the 1988 Orioles, who hold the American League record with 21 consecutive losses.

”I feel like, for the most part, we’ve been in most of the games we’ve lost,” Crochet said. “Not just in this [losing] streak but throughout the year. Typically, one play or one inning is the difference. That’s really all there is to it.”