MINNEAPOLIS — The rally started with Kyle Teel.
The Sox trailed by three runs entering the seventh inning when the offense got going against the inept Twins bullpen. Michael A. Taylor led off with a single to center field. A wild pitch by Travis Adams allowed Taylor to advance to second, and Edgar Quero singled to put runners on the corners with the tying run at the plate.
Teel was patient in his approach. He had the luxury to be choosy, biding his time for the right pitch. He eschewed three balls way outside of the zone before getting swing-happy and chasing a cutter out of the zone. But on the fifth pitch of the at-bat, Teel got a 90.4 mph cutter in the zone that he sent over the right-field wall.
“We talked about it all year with these guys continuing to fight and obviously earlier in the year not getting the results,” manager Will Venable said after the Sox’ 11-8 win Thursday, their season-high fifth in a row. “But that never stopped this group from continuing to go out there and fight, and it’s really nice to continue that competitive spirit and get some good results.”
The inning continued with back-to-back hit batters that put Lenyn Sosa and Colson Montgomery on first and second. Curtis Mead flew out to center field, allowing Sosa to reach third. Andrew Benintendi drove in a run on a sacrifice fly, Chase Meidroth singled and a balk by Genesis Cabrera scored the fifth and final run of the seventh for the Sox.
It seemed like it was going to be one of those nights where the Sox’ depleted pitching staff did the team in, but the offense continued its impressive pace since the All-Star break.
On a night when the pitching staff wasn’t at its sharpest — right-hander Jonathan Cannon allowed five runs and five hits in his first game back since being optioned to Triple A — the offense delivered yet again, capitalizing on a porous Twins bullpen for the second consecutive game.
Quero and Teel combined for six hits at the top of the order. Quero is batting .371 with three doubles and two homers in his last 19 games.
“I saw the lineup last night, saw me leading off, and it was a little new for me,” said Quero, who went 3-for-5. “Other than that, I’m here to do my job and help the team.”
Teel, in particular, has been strong in the second half of the season. Entering Thursday, he was sporting a wRC+ of 148 (100 is league average). Teel’s second-half numbers — .316/.394/.487 — are all improvements from the first half. Though his walk rate has decreased in the second half, his strikeout rate has improved.
The Sox trailed at some point in each of their five consecutive wins, marking the first time the club has done that since 1986.
“I would say we’re extremely resilient,” Teel said. “We have a lot of fight. To come back in multiple games this week just goes to show that.”