The worst part, for those in attendance on Wednesday, was the sound.
Lucas Giolito's 65th pitch of the game was a 91.6 mph fastball that locked in on Twins shortstop Kyle Farmer. The sound of the baseball hitting Farmer's face will be hard to forget.
Giolito spun away and threw his arms up on the mound, and Farmer crumpled and lay motionless on the ground. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli and the team's training staff rushed to home plate. After a few moments, Farmer got up and was helped off the field carefully.
The Twins announced during their 3-1 victory that Farmer had a jaw injury, and they said Wednesday night that he had successful surgery on his lower lip and four bottom teeth.
The news was as encouraging as it could have been. Told after the game that Farmer's jaw was not broken, Baldelli called it "some sort of miracle, if that is the case."
The Twins scored the first run later in that fourth inning, as the White Sox defense is the gift that keeps on giving. Ryan Jeffers reached third base when outfielder Gavin Sheets got his feet tangled while getting under Jeffers' fly ball and fell, allowing the ball to roll away.
Jeffers should have been thrown out attempting to score from third on Michael A. Taylor's grounder to first. But Chicago first baseman Andrew Vaughn bobbled the ball, eliminating a throw home. With two insurance runs in the eighth, the Twins were able to take the four-game series from the White Sox and move to 8-4 on the season. Righthander Sonny Gray, who was under the weather, improved to 2-0. But Farmer's injury was on every Twin's mind.
"We wanted to win it for him right there," Taylor said.