Andrew Benintendi’s bat, experience coming in clutch for first-place White Sox
MINNEAPOLIS — Designated hitter Andrew Benintendi hasn’t skipped a beat since returning to the White Sox’ batting order this weekend, going 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI in the series opener.
His RBI single and solo home run made the difference in a 3-2 victory on Saturday, adding a double and scoring another run on a 3-for-4 afternoon at the plate.
Benintendi’s 34 hits with runners in scoring position this season put him in the top 10 among American League DHs, while his quiet production (.751 OPS with 14 homers) has made him a stalwart for manager Will Venable.
“Every one of our guys can learn from Benny and how he approaches it with runners in scoring position,” Venable said. “It’s about his experience. It’s about his understanding of his own strengths. And he’s been on the field in every type of situation that there is.”
Rivalry rekindled?
Veteran Twins starter Joe Ryan has seen several iterations of the division-rival White Sox over his six-year career — most of them bad. He’s as surprised as anyone by a squad aiming to bury Minnesota in the standings.
“That’s been a crazy revamp,” said Ryan, who’s on the mend with a glute strain. “You can just see the energy on the field. It’s so different there.
“In the past, it was kind of like, you’ve still got to pitch well, but they didn’t seem like they really always wanted to be there,” Ryan said. “Now it just seems like they’re hungry for it.”
HR streak peters out
Center fielder Tristan Peters’ franchise-record-tying, five-game home run streak ended Friday, but the All-Star rookie still got a hit in the series opener and scored from third on a passed ball.
It was just the latest feat in a stunning year for the Manitoba-born former Savannah Banana who played at Southern Illinois University long before the Sox acquired him for peanuts last offseason.
Peters goes down as the only player in MLB history to hit for the cycle, hit a grand slam and walkoff bomb, homer in five straight, notch a six-RBI game and reach base safely five times in a game all in one season, per STATS.
Murakami flashes leather
Rookie sensation Munetaka Murakami entered play Saturday hitting a paltry .148/.313/.352 over his previous 15 games, but he’s finding other ways to contribute.
The first baseman turned a nifty, inning-ending double play with runners on the corners, vacuuming up a grounder from the Twins’ Luke Keaschall, stepping on the bag and throwing a dart to catcher Drew Romo to nab Trevor Larnach at the plate.
Venable said Murakami arrived with plenty of natural instinct from our years in Japan as a third baseman, “but there’s a lot of nuance in that position and a lot of subtle details that Mune’s doing a really good job of learning and growing on… It’s been cool to watch him develop over there.”
Drafted to sing
Romo’s teammates tasked him with singing the national anthem before kicking off their fantasy football draft at a Minneapolis hotel.
Video evidence shared on social media by Erick Fedde suggests the Sox don’t have to worry about losing their backup backstop to the music industry.
“They played a longer, slower version by Chris Stapleton, and he’s extremely hard to compete with,” Romo explained.
Reliever Sean Newcomb selected Detroit running back Jahmyr Gibbs with the first pick.