Relentless, resilient White Sox sweep Twins

CHICAGO -- Remember back at the start of the 2021 season, when the White Sox and Twins were considered the co-favorites for the American League Central title?

It looked like a true battle to the final weeks of the campaign between two division powers.

Well, that assessment was squelched fairly quickly by Chicago through nine head-to-head matchups. With an 8-5 victory Thursday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field, the White Sox (48-32) won for a fourth straight time and completed a three-game sweep of the Twins (33-46).

Their 8-1 dominance of Minnesota has contributed to the Twins sitting 14 1/2 games out of first place, and the White Sox residing comfortably atop the division. The two teams play three times at Target Field next week, but the White Sox clearly established their dominance.

“I wouldn’t say anything is permanent in baseball until the season is over,” said White Sox catcher Zack Collins, who homered and picked up his first career stolen base on Thursday. “But them coming in, us sweeping them -- it was a huge series for us.”

Chicago is achieving this level of excellence while facing continued injury woes. Every team is dealing with their fair share of maladies, but the White Sox had Andrew Vaughn, their rookie designated hitter in Spring Training who became their rookie left fielder, move to third base for the first time in his career.

Vaughn made the move when Yoán Moncada left the game after the third inning with a bruised right hand after sliding awkwardly and head-first into third on José Abreu’s single to right. White Sox manager Tony La Russa declared Moncada most likely out for this weekend’s series in Detroit due to swelling and soreness potentially affecting his swinging and throwing.

There’s a chance Moncada could be ready to face Minnesota on Monday. The White Sox also could give him the nine-game road trip and the All-Star break to rest and recover by placing him on the injured list, or simply add a player for the Detroit series, with nine relievers currently on the roster. A side note: Third baseman Jake Burger was not in Triple-A Charlotte’s Thursday night lineup.

“Just when I was coming out to have this conversation, [general manager Rick Hahn] was in there with [assistant general manager Jeremy Haber], so we’re going to look at all the options and see how we get it covered,” La Russa said. “You’ve got Danny [Mendick] and you’ve got Leury [García], and both of them play third base.

“One of them has to play second. I don’t think Andrew -- he’s done so well in left field and can play first base -- I think you do it on an emergency basis. They’ll figure something out.”

Carlos Rodón allowed one hit over the first four innings, and that hit was a first-inning Nelson Cruz grounder that got stuck in the webbing of Moncada’s glove. The Twins rallied for four runs in the fifth to take a brief lead, but the White Sox regained control when Collins got on top of a high fastball from Jorge Alcala in the sixth. Rodón struck out nine in five innings during what should be his last start before being named an All-Star for the first time this Sunday.

Over the nine matchups with the Twins in ‘21, the White Sox have a prodigious 76-37 edge in runs scored and are slashing .317/.402/.578 with 17 doubles, 19 home runs and 74 RBIs. Josh Donaldson might have given them a little extra push with his pregame comments Wednesday, but it was the prior home series loss against a tough Mariners squad that potentially fired up this talented squad with a 31-14 home mark.

“A little bit of both,” said Collins, referring to facing the Twins and the Mariners’ loss. “It sucked getting punched in the face by the Mariners, losing the series at home on a weekend in our first 100% capacity weekend. It was pretty bad, but what we did against the Twins got us right back on track and hopefully we can keep it going.

“Obviously, even against a Mariners team, we weren’t playing our best. The energy wasn’t there. It’s baseball. It’s a rollercoaster every single year. There are always guys going to get hurt and there’s always guys going to come in and step up. We kind of made a statement. It was pretty big.”

A big statement, for sure, but as Collins mentioned, nothing is permanent with three months to go.

“It's only July 1,” Rodón said. “I like to look at that at the end of the year, not right now. Just worried about tomorrow, to be honest with you, [and] what I'm going to have for dinner.”

“This club is very resilient,” La Russa said. “They're very relentless.”