MINNEAPOLIS — The only other time in his career that Griffin Jax struck out 10 batters, he so impressed the Twins, the next time he took the mound was for his major-league debut. Which raises the question: What sort of reward did he earn on Tuesday?
The 26-year-old righthander, clearly improving as his confidence and comfort level climbs, survived a back-to-back homer hiccup on Tuesday and otherwise shut down the rampaging White Sox offense, whiffing 10 for the first time in the big league and outpitching a former Cy Young winner in a 4-3 victory at Target Field.
And if a rookie snapping Dallas Keuchel's four-game winning streak against the Twins wasn't improbable enough, wait till you hear about how Keuchel, seemingly coasting to his fifth straight victory over Minnesota, blew a 3-2 lead.
The Chicago lefthander, Cy Young winner with Houston in 2015 and fifth-place finisher in last year's voting, suffered some first-inning wildness but otherwise dominated, allowing just three hits through the first five innings. And he quickly retired Mitch Garver and Luis Arraez to open what appeared to be a quiet sixth.
But Miguel Sano, who had drawn only one walk against Keuchel in their previous 28 meetings, watched four balls go by as the wildness returned, bringing Willians Astudillo to the plate. Two pitches later, Keuchel came way inside with a cutter, and Astudillo pounded it into the bleachers in left field, a two-run go-ahead shot and his first career home run against the White Sox.
Astudillo, who had homered only twice since May 6, even embellished his hero credentials in the field two innings later, turning a line drive from 2020 MVP Jose Abreu, who had already homered and doubled, into an inning-ending double play.
The night further cemented the rotation status of Jax, the Air Force captain who kept the White Sox grounded. Mostly.
Adam Engel crushed a pitch over the center field fence in the third inning, a two-run shot, and Abreu followed with a rocket into the Twins' bullpen. But Jax kept the White Sox guessing all night, getting 14 swings-and-misses and equalling his previous professional high of 10 strikeouts — set against the Iowa Cubs, while pitching for St. Paul on May 28.
Jax's final inning was especially impressive. After Abreu led off with a double, the righthander retired Eloy Jimenez, Yoan Moncada — each of whom had homered on Monday — and Andrew Vaughn to end the inning.
His career began slowly, with 11 runs allowed in his first four appearances, each in relief, and he gave up six runs to the Royals in his first career start. But since then? Jax has made four starts, allowed a total of six runs in 20 1/3 innings for a 2.66 ERA, and struck out 18 while walking just five. Even better: The Twins have won three of his last four starts, each against first-place team: Two vs. the White Sox and one against the Astros.
