MINNEAPOLIS _ Jose Berrios was wearing a Super Rosario parody T-shirt as he met with reporters after ending an eight-game winless streak Friday.
"Everybody needs a superhero," Berrios joked about Eddie Rosario, his teammate and fellow Puerto Rican. But it was Berrios who looked like he had super powers against the White Sox.
Berrios whiffed nine White Sox hitters over seven innings on Friday, gave up only three singles and one run, and closed his All-Star season in dominating fashion as the Twins made up an April snow-out with a 2-1 victory in the first game of a doubleheader. He also put himself in a class with some of the greatest strikeout artists in Twins history.
"He was efficient. The velocity was up," Twins manager Paul Molitor said after Berrios broke an eight-game winless streak and finished the season 12-11 with a 3.84 ERA. "It was a nice way for him to be able to head home, knowing he finished the season strong."
The Twins won the second game as well, beating Chicago, 12-4, behind a big game from Mitch Garver. Making his first start since suffering a concussion Sept. 12 (at first base, rather than catcher), Garver went 4-for-5 with two doubles and six RBIs, two off tying the Twins single-game record held by Glenn Adams (in 1977) and Randy Bush (in 1989). Chase De Jong pitched six innings to position himself for his first major-league victory.
In the first game, Berrios handcuffed the White Sox lineup with his bat-freezing curveball and 95-mph fastball, though that's nothing new: Chicago this weekend will set a major-league record for strikeouts in a season, breaking Milwaukee's mark of 1,571 set last season. Berrios' nine strikeouts gave him 67 whiffs against Chicago in his career, too, far more than any other opponent in his career.
And in the sixth inning, he looped a curveball over the outside corner against Daniel Palka, marking the 200th strikeout of the season for the Puerto Rican right-hander. Berrios became the eighth Twins pitcher to reach that milestone, and the first right-hander since Bert Blyleven in 1986. Only Francisco Liriano (2010) and Johan Santana (2004-06) had achieved the feat in the intervening years.
"That was one of my goals before the season started," Berrios said of the 200-K mark. "That's when I wrote it down. I accomplished it, and I'm thankful to God for that."
Chicago managed only three hits against Berrios, all in the third inning. Leury Garcia's two-out grounder to second base would have ended the inning, but Gregorio Petit's throw to Tyler Austin was in the dirt, Austin couldn't scoop it, and Tim Anderson scored the White Sox's only run on the infield hit.
Taylor Rogers and Trevor May shut out Chicago over the final two innings to preserve Berrios' 12th victory and end his eight-game winless streak that dated back to Aug. 4. Berrios finishes 2018 with a 12-11 record, 202 strikeouts, a 3.84 ERA and a mid-July All-Star appearance. Not a bad season _ but not close to what Berrios intends to become.
"I want to be one of the best pitchers in the league," said the 25-year-old Berrios. "I think I have the material to do that and to be the best pitcher on this team so that Minnesota can construct around me and build a winning team."
The Twins didn't generate much offense behind him, not against Chicago's Reynaldo Lopez, but they took advantage of Lopez's wildness to hand him his 10th loss of the season, against seven wins. Joe Mauer led off the game with an infield single, moved to third base on a Jake Cave double, and scored on Austin's groundout.
In the sixth inning of a tie game, after Lopez walked the bases loaded, Willians Astudillo hit a fly ball to center field that scored Cave from third base.
