White Sox at Twins
After finding themselves on the wrong end of a four-game sweep in their last series, the Minnesota Twins aim to bring out the brooms in the finale of a three-game set against the Chicago White Sox on Thursday afternoon. Miguel Sano has homered in back-to-back contests to raise his team-leading total to 18 for Minnesota, which is vying for its first home sweep since a season-opening triumph over Kansas City.
While Sano is swinging a hot bat of late, the 24-year-old Dominican is just 3-for-19 with six strikeouts versus Thursday starter Jose Quintana. Eduardo Escobar is riding high with a nine-game hitting streak - including four straight contests with a double - to raise his batting average from .246 to .300. While Escobar's batting average is impressive, Chicago's Avisail Garcia owns an AL-best .341 and is 5-for-8 with a homer, three RBIs and two runs scored in the series. Teammate Todd Frazier is singing a much different tune, as he found himself on the bench Wednesday while being mired in a 3-for-30 slump in his last eight contests.
TV: 1:10 p.m. ET, MLB Network, CSN Chicago, FSN North (Minnesota)
PITCHING MATCHUP: White Sox LH Jose Quintana (3-8, 5.07 ERA) vs. Twins LH Nik Turley (0-1, 12.46)
Quintana's season hasn't gone as well as he'd hoped, but he has pieced together a 1-1 mark with a 3.12 ERA in his last three starts. The 28-year-old hasn't been given much run support throughout the campaign, but that changed on Thursday after he allowed two runs in seven innings of an 11-4 romp at Toronto. "Every time is good when you get a lot of (run) support," Quintana said of his first win since May 2. "Wow, it was a lot of runs though. I needed that outing to get my confidence high again."
Turley has been taken to task in each of his first two major-league appearances, allowing four runs in as many innings on June 11 before getting shredded for eight in 4 2/3 frames five days later in an 8-1 setback versus Cleveland. The 27-year-old journeyman permitted consecutive walks before his first pitch to Edwin Encarnacion was deposited into the upper deck for a three-run homer in Thursday's loss. Turley is allowing opposing teams to bat .436 against him.
WALK-OFFS
1. Minnesota DH Kennys Vargas has scored a run in each of his last three games after failing to do so in five of his previous six.
2. Chicago DH Matt Davidson has struck out three times in three of his last five contests.
3. The Twins will play the Cleveland Indians in a two-game 2018 regular-season series in Puerto Rico on April 17-18, the league announced on Wednesday.