The Minnesota Twins bullpen bent, but didn’t break following Ervin Santana’s five-inning, six-run start. They stranded 14 Chicago White Sox runners in a 9-7 victory following a four-game sweep by the Cleveland Indians in the previous series.
“We needed a win, and it was not how we drew it up as far as Ervin having a good start and giving us a little bit of length,” said Molitor. “He was battling from the get-go again.”
“His fastball command was a little bit shaky, but I think the biggest problem for him was his slider today,” said Molitor. “It just seemed like he didn’t have a real good feel for that pitch, and it got him in trouble a couple of times.”
Chicago had a runner on third from fifth inning, which Santana stranded before exiting the game, to the eighth inning. Alan Busenitz labored through two outs but only gave up the run and Matt Belisle, Taylor Rogers and Brandon Kintzler kept the White Sox off the board.
Kintzler didn’t allow a runner to reach in the ninth, earning the save.
“Rogers had to strand a few. Matty had to pick us up to leave the bases loaded,” said Molitor. “So there’s numerous times … they leave 14 on base, you’re gonna have guys make pitches at the right times to find a way to hold on.”
Minnesota got hits up and down the lineup, including in key situations from Joe Mauer and Jason Castro, who sent Chicago starter Derek Holland to the showers.
Miguel Sano hit a line-drive homer to center field that exited in a hurry. But Kennys Vargas’ moonshot, which landed just below the third deck in left-center, resonated most with his teammates and manager.
“He takes pride in his length,” said Molitor, chuckling. “It was crushed. You don’t see balls go into that part of the stadium, that second deck, that far over towards center field.”
Of note: It was from the right side. He is hitting .303/.326/.573 from the left side this year, but only .094/.143/.094 against lefties.
“It was really good to see,” said Molitor, “because I know he wants to be a guy that you can count on in terms of giving you balance from both sides, and it’s been fairly lopsided to this point.”
The Twins are now 35-33, a game and a half behind the Indians, and improve to 15-24 at home.
