After spending much of July on the road, the Minnesota Twins are looking forward to spending the bulk of August at home.
The Twins will start a three-game homestand against the Chicago White Sox on Friday night. It marks the first of 18 home games this month for Minnesota, which played only 11 home games last month.
The Twins’ newest acquisition also could make his team debut this weekend.
Right-handed reliever Trevor Richards joined the team this week but has yet to make an appearance out of the bullpen. Before Tuesday’s trade deadline, the Twins acquired him from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for minor-league infielder Jay Harry.
Richards, 31, is 2-1 with a 4.64 ERA in 45 games (two starts) this season. He relies on a simple approach out of the bullpen.
“Fastball, changeup,” Richards said. “I throw a lot of changeups. The goal is to just go after hitters and attack them and see what happens. That’s pretty much me in a nutshell.”
The White Sox, in a nutshell, are making news for all the wrong reasons.
Chicago has lost a franchise-record 17 games in a row and is threatening to break the modern record for losses in a season. The White Sox are 27-84 and on pace for 123 losses, which would eclipse the mark set by the 1962 New York Mets, who lost 120 games.
White Sox manager Pedro Grifol wants his players to give their best efforts in every contest.
“You can be in the midst of a storm right now,” Grifol said. “The next day, you could be experiencing sunshine and rainbows. You have to work hard. What you can’t do is stop working or give up.”
Grifol also acknowledged that rumors are swirling about his job security.
“Unfortunately, a lot of the judgment of the major league game is based on wins and losses,” Grifol said. “So, if this doesn’t work out, which I’m the manager here right now so I’m not thinking about other opportunities, but wins and losses are extremely important.
“This might be a little controversial, but the man upstairs is the only one who makes those decisions, whether I get another opportunity or whether I stay with this opportunity or not. And I live in peace because of that.”
The Twins will turn to right-hander Joe Ryan (6-7, 3.62) to start the series. Ryan is looking for his first victory since July 6 against the Houston Astros.
In five career starts against the White Sox, Ryan is 2-0 with a 3.54 ERA. He has walked seven and struck out 31 in 28 innings.
The White Sox will counter with right-hander Davis Martin (0-0, 3.38), who will make his second appearance and his first start of the season. This will be
Martin’s first start in the big leagues since Oct. 5, 2022, against the Twins.
Martin made his season debut on Saturday out of the bullpen and allowed one run in 2 2/3 innings against the Seattle Mariners. He walked three and struck out three, and he threw 35 of 60 pitches for strikes.
The 27-year-old Martin has faced the Twins twice in his career, including one start and one relief appearance. He is 0-1 with a 12.15 ERA in those outings.
Minnesota is 29-21 at home this season. Chicago is 10-44 on the road.
–Field Level Media