Twins beat White Sox behind Kenta Maeda's pitching, three home runs; magic number drops to eight

CHICAGO – When Kenta Maeda was building up his arm following Tommy John surgery, he had doubts whether days like Thursday would happen again.

Maeda was vintage Maeda. He commanded all his pitches. He completed seven innings, matching his longest start of the season, and he threw a season-high 105 pitches during the Twins' 10-2 victory over the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field. The Twins lowered their magic number to eight to secure a division title.

The 35-year-old righthander, who finished runner-up in the American League Cy Young voting in 2020, wasn't always sure his arm would feel the same way it did before surgery.

"I had worries about my arm being hurt or sore," Maeda, who hadn't thrown more than 98 pitches in a start this season, said through an interpreter. "Then I was placed on the [injured list] from May to June. After that, slowly but surely, I felt more comfortable pitching longer innings, more pitches. To be able to do that tonight was certainly huge."

Maeda racked up eight strikeouts, primarily with his splitter, despite throwing a first-pitch strike to only 11 of his 26 batters. A low percentage of first-pitch strikes was by design, he said, knowing few teams swing at the first pitch more often than White Sox.

Despite falling behind in counts, Maeda retired 14 of his first 15 batters with few balls even reaching the outfield. He pitched into the seventh inning for the first time since July 24 before losing his shutout after issuing a one-out walk to Yoán Moncada and a two-run homer to Andrew Vaughn.

"Kenta was in control and looked very sharp, so we let him go," said Twins manager Rocco Baldelli, noting the bullpen was a little taxed. "That's the longest he has gone this year, and I think it's good for him."

The Twins, who scored 10 runs, didn't produce a baserunner in their first three innings against White Sox starter José Ureña. They hit only three balls out of the infield, and one was a foul out in left field.

In the top of the fourth inning, Edouard Julien put the Twins ahead when he turned on a 93-mph sinker. His swing sent the ball over the right field fence and caused his helmet to fly off his head. It was his 13th home run of the season and his first trot around the bases helmetless.

"It's something new with him every day," Baldelli said.

Royce Lewis followed three batters later with a 426-foot homer to left field, a no-doubter that elicited only a half-hearted jog from White Sox left fielder Andrew Benintendi.

"To have a rookie leadoff hitter [Julien] out there, it says how we feel about him," Baldelli said. "Royce is hitting fourth. These are impactful guys coming in and playing good. They put the work in every day, and they're handling all of this well."

It wasn't all happy moments in an eventual blowout. Lewis gave the Twins an injury scare in the fifth inning, tweaking his left ankle when he backhanded a ball to his left and slipped in the outfield grass before he made a strong throw across the diamond for an out. He grimaced and bent at the waist, drawing a visit from trainer Nick Paparesta, but he remained in the game after adjusting his left cleat.

The Twins knocked Ureña out of the game during a four-run seventh inning. After totaling three hits in the first six innings, they had four straight hits that included a two-run single from Matt Wallner through the right side of the infield and Kyle Farmer followed with a two-run homer.

Four more runs scored in the ninth inning. The Twins, who play only three more games against a team with a winning record in the regular season, scored the first two runs in the inning without a ball leaving the infield. The rally started when Farmer struck out, but he reached base on a catcher's throwing error after the ball hit the dirt.