Twins at White Sox
After turning on the power to post a rare victory and even the four-game series, the Minnesota Twins attempt to post back-to-back wins for the first time in nearly a month when they visit the Chicago White Sox on Saturday. Minnesota belted four home runs Friday en route to a 6-4 triumph, which was just its third victory in 15 contests.
Eduardo Escobar hit a pair of shots for his third multi-homer performance and added an RBI double while Brian Dozier and Logan Morrison also went deep for the Twins, who ended their eight-game road losing streak. Escobar has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 contests, registering five multi-hit efforts in that span. Leury Garcia and Jose Abreu homered for the White Sox, who fell to 3-11 at home this season. Abreu and Yolmer Sanchez each recorded three of Chicago's nine hits, with the former matching the total from his previous six games.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, FS North (Minnesota), WGN (Chicago)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Twins RH Lance Lynn (0-3, 8.37 ERA) vs. White Sox LH Hector Santiago (0-0, 3.48)
But for a strong outing against Houston on April 9 in which he struck out nine over five scoreless innings, Lynn's first month with Minnesota has been an absolute disaster. The 30-year-old native of Indiana surrendered five or more runs in each of his other four turns with his new club and has worked more than five frames just once thus far. Lynn is hoping his track record against Chicago will help in his quest for a victory, as he has gone 1-0 while allowing three runs and recording 26 strikeouts over 19 1/3 innings in three career starts versus the White Sox.
Santiago will be facing the team with which he spent the previous 1 1/2 seasons as he makes the second start of his second stint with Chicago. The 30-year-old from New Jersey, who began his career with the White Sox in 2011, came out of the bullpen to fill in for the injured Miguel Gonzalez on Sunday and gave up two runs on five hits and three walks over 4 2/3 innings in a no-decision at Kansas City. Santiago owns a 3-2 record and 4.19 ERA in six starts and four relief appearances against Minnesota during his career.
WALK-OFFS
1. White Sox 2B Yoan Moncada (hamstring/thumb/foot) returned to the lineup Friday after missing one game but exited in the fifth inning with tightness in his left hamstring.
2. Escobar and Morrison hit the first back-to-back homers of the season for the Twins on Friday in the fourth inning, which featured a total of three blasts - also a first for the team this year.
3. Chicago recalled LHP Jace Fry from Triple-A Charlotte on Friday and optioned RHP Juan Minaya to the Knights.