MINNEAPOLIS — It’s the last month of the regular season, and the White Sox are still staring down the barrel of another 100-loss season.
With the playoffs being virtually out of reach since the start of the season — their elimination number is two — manager Will Venable still views these last stretch of games as “meaningful” for the Sox’ future. He wants the team to continue honing in on the hallmarks — fastball hitting, running the bases hard — the club has been trying to establish.
“We just want to make sure that we finish strong, on top of all the individual things that guys are doing on the field,” Venable said. “We have a really young group and as these guys are experiencing a full major-league season for the first time, there are things that happen in the weight room and training room that we need to really stay dialed in on to finish strong.”
The Sox showed some resilience in Monday’s 6-5 win against the Twins. The offense provided necessary support for its pitchers in what was a bullpen game for the Sox — seven pitchers were used.
After grabbing an early 3-0 lead behind homers from Colson Montgomery and Chase Meidroth, the Sox nearly let the game get away from them because of unforced miscues.
Trailing 3-1 in the fourth, the Twins scored after a wild pitch by Cam Booser and a throwing error by Kyle Teel led to Byron Buxton scoring.
With a 4-3 lead in the sixth, Andrew Benintendi couldn’t grab a fly ball that turned into a double for Edouard Julien, who was pinch ran for by DaShawn Keirsey Jr. Keirsey stole third and later scored after Buxton’s sacrifice fly to left field.
The Twins scored in the seventh on an RBI single by Brooks Lee to take a 5-4 lead. But the Sox answered with two runs in the eighth — two-out RBI doubles by Brooks Baldwin and Mike Tauchman.
“Those guys were grinding, really the whole game,” Venable said. “[I] felt like we had quality at-bats. They came through in the biggest moment there.”
Despite the errors and self-inflicted mistakes, the Sox walked out of Target Field with their 11th one-run win of the season.
“We put ourselves in a tough spot with the miscues and the walks,” Venable said. “Learn something from every one of these plays, and you keep going and keep battling.”
Right-hander Jordan Leasure, who recorded the save and struck out two in 1 ⅓ innings, was on last year’s beleaguered Sox team. He said one-run games last year “were not very encouraging when you’re in them.”
“But this year I think we have a really good group,” Leasure said. “Even in these [one-run games], somebody’s going to pull through, so it’s been a lot of fun to just watch it happen and then to be a part of it. It’s super encouraging.
With many young players now in the Sox clubhouse, development is, of course, going to be at the forefront. Young prospects like catcher Kyle Teel, Meidroth and Montgomery recognize that though they’re out of the playoff push, this time is important for them going forward — no matter how far playoff races seem for the rebuilding club.
“September is the most important month,” Meidroth said. “Playing and winning games in September is what winning ball clubs do. And so it’s important no matter who we’re playing.”
The Sox have shown in spurts that they can play clean baseball, now it’s about showing it consistently. They have 24 games to prove that the rebuild is on the right path.