After a blowout loss Monday and a thrilling walk-off victory Tuesday, the Twins were due for a quick finale to their series Wednesday against the White Sox at Target Field.
And Lucas Giolito made sure of that.
The Chicago righthander's eight innings, 11 strikeouts and mystifying changeup stumped the Twins 2-1 in a 2-hour, 35-minute defeat. The Twins didn't have long to dwell on that confounding pitch, what with the team charter already warming on the runway to take them to California for Thursday's makeup doubleheader against the Angels.
Giolito (3-4) began the day with a 4.97 ERA, but the 2019 All-Star successfully cycled through his fastball and slider in front of an announced crowd of 8,608, only to fool hitters with his changeup at the end. Nelson Cruz had both Twins hits, including a third-inning homer to put his team up 1-0.
"He's got the unusual arm action," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said of Giolito. "That cartoonish kind of changeup action that he has that the ball does not appear like it's going to end up where it ends up and really backs up on the hitters.
"On days when he has that pitch, you probably are going to end up attacking the other pitches and trying to find a way to do damage."
While Baldelli said this strategy from Giolito isn't new, his players still couldn't quite jump on early pitches. Only Cruz had success, lining a fastball just over the center field fence.
"I was lucky it didn't hit the wall," as Cruz said, adding Giolito kept the Twins off-balance all game.