Twins 6, White Sox 4: Murakami, Montgomery blasts not enough as Kay falters

The post Twins 6, White Sox 4: Murakami, Montgomery blasts not enough as Kay falters appeared first on Sox On 35th. Nothing comes easy for the 2026 Chicago White Sox. Even on a night when Munetaka Murakami broke out of his 1-for-24 slump with a two-run blast in the first inning, the pesky Minnesota Twins found a way to come out of Rate Field on Saturday night with a 6-4 victory. “I’m shocked,” former White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said on CHSN’s Postgame Live. “It was kind of a weird game. That’s why baseball is so crazy. You never exactly know what you’re going to get and how you were going to get it.” Never knowing what you’re going to get is precisely the right way to describe Anthony Kay’s outing for the Sox. Rewarded with a 3-0 lead after the first inning, Kay was dominant for the first three innings, needing only 37 pitches to retire the first nine batters. However, just like a box of Cracker Jack, you never know when an unpopped piece of popcorn will come up and get you. In the fourth inning, it was a bloop, a walk and two doubles that allowed the Twins to get back into the ballgame. Still clinging to a 4-3 lead, White Sox manager Will Venable decided to bring Kay back for the fifth inning. That turned out to be the wrong move. After hitting Ryan Kreidler — Kay’s 23rd hit batter of the year — Luke Keaschall singled to right, setting the stage for Ryan Jeffers’ 14th home run of the year. Trailing 5-3 midway through the fifth inning, the Sox would add only one more run en route to the team’s 28th home loss of the season. “It would be so nice if they just got hot for like a week,” Chuck Garfien said on CHSN’s Postgame Live. “We could breathe a little easier. This feels like it might be the last three weeks of the season where they win, they lose, they win a couple and the Guardians are going to be just hanging around. I hope that’s not the case. That’ll be better for our mental health, but I think we need to be bracing for this.” Despite the loss, there were a couple of bright spots for the Pale Hose. Murakami’s 346-foot, first-inning home run, his first since Aug. 18 against the Chicago Cubs, allowed him to become only the fourth Japanese-born player to hit 30-plus home runs in a season. Murakami also joined Ron Kittle, Eloy Jiménez and José Abreu on the short list of White Sox rookies to hit that many dingers in a season. “It’s nice to see him come back,” Guillen said. “You hope he can continue to go there and that this is the start of a good finish.” Also finding his way back to relevance at the plate, Colson Montgomery hit his second home run in as many games during that three-run first inning. The trio of Murakami, Montgomery and Miguel Vargas became only the fourth trio of White Sox hitters — and the first in MLB this year — with 30-plus home runs in a season. The last time it happened was in 2008, when Carlos Quentin, Jim Thome and Jermaine Dye did it. Speaking of home runs, the Sox have found themselves on a feast-or-famine streak with the long ball. The team scored all four runs on homers during its 4-1 win Friday night, and three of its four runs Saturday night scored the same way. “I think that they have to put it together,” Guillen said during Countdown Live on CHSN. “They’re not going to hit home runs every night.” The Sox had opportunities to score in both the seventh and eighth innings, but doubles by Randal Grichuk and Tristan Peters failed to result in any runs. Taj Bradley (11-6) earned the win for Minnesota. It was Bradley’s first win against the White Sox in five outings. Former White Sox pitcher Yoendrys Gómez earned his 21st save of the season. Kay fell to 9-8, with his next start coming at St. Louis next weekend. Notes: Twins Shortstop Kaelen Culpepper has collected a hit in 18 of his last 21 games. Chicago White Sox Sunday’s starter is TBD, as Sean Burke’s start was pushed back until Tuesday to give him an extra day’s rest, while Davis Martin will pitch Wednesday. The White Sox lead the season series vs. the Twins with a 7-5 record. The Winston-Salem Dash have clinched a spot in the High-A playoffs for the first time since 2018. Caleb Bonemer hit his 36th home run of the season in the first game of a doubleheader. No team has ever won the division after losing 100 games the year before. “It would mean a lot,” Venable told Garfien before the game. “That’s kind of the goal when you go into this that you’re in this position to win the division. That’s what we’re all competing for. At the same time, when you put it up against last year, and you evaluate the progress that this organization’s made and the team’s made is really incredible. It would mean a lot. We’re just trying to stay focused on today.” Tyson Bagent was spotted in the crowd drinking a Miller Lite. The plan for Kyle Teel is to alternate starts and he should be in the lineup on Sunday. Hagen Smith: 1 ER in his first 9 games (13 IP, .69 ERA, 19Ks) Twins’ Top Hitters Luke Keaschall (2-for-5, with two runs) Kaelen Culpepper (2-for-5, two runs, RBI) Josh Bell (2-for-4, run) Ryan Jeffers (1-for-4, 3 RBIs) White Sox’ Top Hitters Munetaka Murakami (1-for-4, HR, 2 RBIs) Colson Montgomery (1-for-4, HR, RBI) Miguel Vargas (1-for-4, run, RBI) Around the Central Tigers 6, Guardians 0 Blue Jays 4, Royals 3 Next Game The Chicago White Sox conclude their season series against the Minnesota Twins with a rare Coca-Cola Family Sunday starting time of 5:20 p.m. The game will be broadcast on Peacock and NBCSN. The first 10,000 fans receive a kid-designed hat presented by CIBC in observance of Childhood Cancer Awareness Day. Follow us on social media @SoxOn35th for more! 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