Yusei Kikuchi pitches well, but remains winless

Antonacci got his three doubles without the benefit of a hard-hit ball. He’s totaled 23 two-baggers in 123 games since arriving in the majors, and his .367 OBP placed him third among rookies behind TJ Rumfield (.389) and Kevin McGonigle (.373).

Bryan Hudson, Jordan Hicks, Smith, Grant Taylor and Tyler Davis combined to limit the Twins to one run and strike out 15 batters. Smith got four of the strikeouts in his longest major league outing to date. It was surprising to see him pitch a third inning, given that he just threw two innings on Friday, but he was quite efficient in throwing 35 pitches. In part because of Smith’s success, José Urquidy never pitched in the game, though he probably would have if the White Sox had known they’d score eight runs between the sixth and the eighth to turn it into a rout.

Ober fanned six in four scoreless innings before giving up a double and an RBI single in the fifth. He departed with one out, and the Twins pen proceeded to give up nine runs the rest of the way. Ober dropped to 7-5 with a 4.28 ERA. He hasn’t won since July 17, having gone 0-2 in his last eight starts despite maintaining his first-half performance. He’ll face the Guardians next weekend.

Peters has gone 10 games without a home run since his surprising run of consecutive games with a homer was snapped at five, but he hasn’t started slumping; he’s hitting .313 with three doubles and a triple in 35 plate appearances during the span.

So much for Larnach’s little breakthrough season. He’s hit .205/.268/.342 since the break, leaving him at .262/.345/.410 overall. The Twins were probably still right not to non-tender him last winter, but they have to do better in 2027 and should have the internal options to pull that off.

King allowed four hits, walked three and struck out three in taking down his former team. He’s worked 19 scoreless innings in his last three starts, lowering his ERA from 3.38 to 3.00 and probably adding millions to the contract he’s going to get after opting out of his deal with the Padres this winter. He’ll face the Giants next weekend.

Miller notched his 33rd save in 35 tries. He’s up to 111 strikeouts in 60 1/3 innings. The next highest total among relievers is 105 in 76 2/3 innings from Aaron Ashby.

Fernando Tatis Jr., Jake Cronenworth and Manny Machado homered to start the bottom of the first. It was the 12th time ever that a team opened a game with three straight homers. Cole was also responsible for one of the previous 11 against the Twins in 2022. The fourth run today also came on a homer from Luis Campusano in the seventh. Cole allowed only two other hits and walked none. He settled for three strikeouts, but he did have 12 whiffs on 47 swings. He threw a total of 24 pitches over the final three innings and 84 pitches overall. In all, it was a pretty reasonable outing, though it did result in him falling to 8-8 with a 3.41 ERA. He’ll face the Mets next weekend.

Cronenworth’s homer, the second of three consecutive homers off Cole to begin the game, was a 98-mph liner down the left field line that sailed over the low wall at Petco Park. The 32-year-old had 84 career homers since debuting in 2020, with every single one being to the right of an imaginary line bisecting the field. He’s hitting .212/.298/.296 with five homers in 351 plate appearances this season.

McMahon is 2-for-11 with no extra-base hits or RBI in five games since coming off the injured list, leaving him .215/.283/.360 overall. Alas, it doesn’t look like the Yankees are planning on trying Anthony Volpe over him at third base; since starting at the hot corner three times in span of four games in Triple-A, he’s reverted to the middle infield the last four games. The Yankees probably don’t see enough upside to make it worth risking a change, but McMahon’s defense isn’t making up for his bat at this point.