MINNEAPOLIS — The Chicago White Sox entered Wednesday 0-72 this season when trailing after eight innings.
According to the Minnesota Twins telecast, the Sox had lost 205 straight in that scenario.
They found themselves down by two entering the ninth inning Wednesday against the Twins at Target Field.
Michael A. Taylor helped the Sox put that streak to an end with a two-out, two-run, go-ahead double as part of a three-run inning en route to a 4-3 victory in front of 11,904.
“Just trying to slow things down,” Taylor said of his approach in the at-bat. “I felt like I was a bit jumpy all game. Threw me a lot of spin, so tried to stay on the heater, but slow things down and just let the ball get deep.”
Taylor worked his way back from an 0-2 count to hit a 2-2 sweeper from Justin Topa down the left-field line. The only question was would the ball stay fair.
“It was hooking at the end so I was hoping it would stay (fair),” Taylor said. “I heard (later) it landed right on the line there.”
The hit capped a stunning comeback for the Sox (52-88), who matched their season high with a fourth consecutive victory.
“On a day where we really just couldn’t get anything going offensively (for most of the game), our pitching staff did a great job keeping us in the game, our defense did a good job keeping us in the game and we just continued to fight,” manager Will Venable said. “It’s really cool for this group to fight back and put ourselves in a good spot to take that one.”
The Sox trailed 3-1 entering the ninth. They had just three hits through eight innings. The one run came on a second-inning home run from Edgar Quero.
Quero began the comeback in the ninth with a one-out single against Kody Funderburk. He was lifted for pinch runner Korey Lee. Andrew Benintendi ended a seven-pitch at-bat with a walk, and Topa entered the game.
Curtis Mead struck out, and Baldwin came up as the team’s last hope. He lifted a broken-bat single to shallow right, bringing home Lee to cut the deficit to 3-2.
“Really good at-bats,” Taylor said. “The way guys grinded — (Benintendi) with the walk, (Baldwin) the two-out knock — we fought the whole way. To get runners on in that situation is big.”
Benintendi went to third on the hit, as Taylor walked into the batter’s box with runners on the corners and two outs. Baldwin stole second, putting two in scoring position.
Taylor swung and missed two sweepers. He then took two more sweepers for balls.
Topa went to the sweeper again on the fifth pitch, and Taylor connected for the two-run double.
“(Quero) getting us going there was huge,” Venable said. “Nice at-bat by (Benintendi) and (Baldwin) did a nice job fighting off a ball and then obviously MT with a big, two-strike hit.
“Just guys grinding and finding a way, really.”
Venable said he also was “hoping” Taylor’s ball would stay fair.
“Really bad angle from where I was at, can’t see anything down the line,” he said. “It was nice to be able to sink one in there.”
The Sox last staged such a rally on Aug. 6, 2023, when they scored three in the ninth inning to top the Cleveland Guardians 5-3 at Progressive Field.
They received five solid innings from starter Yoendrys Gómez, who allowed two runs (one earned) on seven hits with five strikeouts and one walk in five innings.
“That’s always the mindset when you’re on the mound, just try to keep your team in the game,” Gómez said through an interpreter. “Don’t allow too many runs. Today we saw the results, the team was able to rally late and we got the win.”
Grant Taylor struck out two and allowed one hit in 1 1/3 innings for his first major-league win. He got the final out of the seventh and retired the side in order in the eighth.
Jordan Leasure surrendered a leadoff double to Byron Buxton and walked Trevor Larnach in the ninth. Leasure rebounded, getting two flyouts to left and a groundout to third for his sixth save.
“Guys have always worked hard, played the game hard, but just doing the little things and attention to detail has improved as the season’s gone on,” Taylor said.
Jonathan Cannon in line to return
The right-hander is expected to return from Triple-A Charlotte and pitch in the bulk role for Thursday’s series finale against the Twins. Fraser Ellard is in line to serve as the opener.
The Sox optioned Cannon to Charlotte on Aug. 8. He is 4-9 with a 5.34 ERA and 76 strikeouts in 19 games (17 starts) with the Sox this season.