Andrew Benintendi hasn’t missed a beat since returning to the White Sox lineup this weekend. He went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI in the series opener, then knocked in another run with a first-inning single Saturday and later added a two-bagger.
Benintendi’s 34 hits with runners in scoring position rank him in the top 10 among American League designated hitters. His steady production — a .735 OPS with 13 homers — has made him a relied-upon presence 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.”
Veteran Twins starter Joe Ryan has faced many versions of the division-rival White Sox during his six-year career, most of them weak. He’s as surprised as anyone by a squad now aiming to bury Minnesota in the standings. “That’s been a crazy revamp,” Ryan said, sidelined 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. Now it just seems like they’re hungry for it.”
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 another feat in a stunning year for the Manitoba-born former Savannah Banana who played at Southern Illinois University before the Sox acquired him for peanuts last offseason. Peters is the only player in MLB history to hit for the cycle, hit a grand slam and walk-off home run, homer in five straight, notch a six-RBI game and reach base safely five times in a game all in one season, per STATS.
Rookie sensation Munetaka Murakami entered play Saturday hitting .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 his 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.”
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.
