CHICAGO _ Mike Pelfrey was a good teammate, by all accounts, during his Twins career. He tried to be a mentor to the younger pitchers and loved to keep things loose in the clubhouse.
"His time here and some of the pranks and things that he did, the pleasure he brought to that clubhouse every day," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "That was pretty special."
The problem was that Pelfrey was 11-27 for the Twins. While there were few complaints about Pelfrey the person, Pelfrey the pitcher was known for working slow, leaving too many pitches over the plate and flogging himself in front of the media after bad outings.
The Twins likely had Pelfrey muttering to himself after another poor outing, as they knocked him out in the middle innings then went to town on the White Sox bullpen on the way to a 7-2 victory at Guaranteed Rate Field on Tuesday night.
After scoring three runs off Pelfrey in the fourth inning, the Twins blew the game open with four runs on six hits in the sixth. The inning was fueled by back-to-back plays in which White Sox outfielders committed errors on singles, allowing runners to move into scoring position and eventually score.
Fans were allowed to bring their dogs to the ballpark _ an announced canine crowd of 463 was on hand _ and Chicago's play could be summed up with one four-letter word: Woof.
The Twins, meanwhile, could feel encouraged they won on a night in which their two most important hitters were sidelined.
Miguel Sano was not available because he was serving a one-game suspension for his involvement in a bench-clearing incident with Detroit on April 22. Brian Dozier was not available as his sprained left ankle continues to heal.
Their timing couldn't have been worse: Right-handed hitters entered Tuesday batting .333 against Pelfrey, while lefties were hitting .207.
Molitor ended up with a lineup that included eight left-handed hitters, including Joe Mauer in the leadoff spot. The one right-handed hitter he could have used was backup catcher Chris Gimenez, but Jason Castro started.
Pelfrey pitched to those tendencies, as he retired the first eight Twins _ all left-handed hitters. He came inside with fastballs to many of them, and home plate umpire Dan Bellino was generous with a couple of his rulings.
The one righthanded hitter was Byron Buxton and, of course, he doubled off Pelfrey in the third.
Pelfey wasn't the only former teammate on the mound Tuesday. Hector Santiago was drafted in the 30th round in 2006 and broke in with the White Sox. He's tormented his former team, going 4-1 with a 1.40 ERA in six starts against Chicago.
Santiago retired the first seven White Sox batters he faced, running his scoreless inning streak against them to 15. But RBI singles by Tyler Saladino and Jose Abreu in the third inning gave Chicago a 2-0 lead.
Those would be the only runs off Santiago. He pitched 62/3 innings, giving up three hits and five walks with six strikeouts. It was the fourth time in seven starts Santiago has pitched into the seventh inning.
The Twins got to Pelfrey in the fourth. Jorge Polanco singled, stole second then scored on Max Kepler's single to left. Kennys Vargas then crushed a 1-1 pitch into the seats in right to a two-run homer and a 3-2 Twins lead.
The Twins knocked Pelfrey out of the game in the fifth when Mauer doubled and Kepler drew a walk. Pelfrey had thrown 95 pitches when White Sox manager Rick Renteria went to his bullpen, but things only got worse for the White Sox.
