White Sox to host Minnesota Twins for first time in 2021

Alex Colome

When the season started, many observers thought the AL Central race would come down to the defending champion Minnesota Twins and the White Sox -- and it still might.

But thus far, things have been going much better for the Sox than they have been for the Twins. The Sox are 19-13 and alone in first place in the division, while the Twins sit seven games behind in fourth place at 12-20.

The two teams will match up for three games in Chicago starting Tuesday night, and the Sox will be seeing a lot of the Twins in the next two and a half months -- 16 of the 19 meetings between these two clubs will occur within the next 77 days.

Of note, the Twins are 0-7 in extra-inning games so far this season, so they've lost a lot of close ones. You could say it's bad luck, but you could also say Minnesota's bullpen has been brutal.

Former Sox closer Alex Colome has had his problems since joining the Twins -- he has given up 15 runs (eight earned) in just 12.2 innings this season. He's 1-3 with a 5.68 ERA. Tyler Duffey (0-2, 5.56 ERA) also has been having a rough time out of the Minnesota bullpen.

Here's a look at the pitching matchups for this series:

Tuesday: Dylan Cease (2-0, 2.37 ERA) vs. Kenta Maeda (2-2, 5.02 ERA)

Wednesday: Dallas Keuchel (1-1, 3.79 ERA) vs. J.A. Happ (2-0, 1.91 ERA)

Thursday: Carlos Rodon (5-0, 0.58 ERA) vs. Michael Pineda (2-1, 2.43 ERA)

Three things to watch for in this series:

1. Can the Sox solve Pineda? I always cringe a little when I see Pineda scheduled to pitch against the Sox. Lifetime, he's 5-3 with a 3.21 ERA against the South Siders, and frankly, I'm surprised he's not 8-0. Pineda is a decent, but not great pitcher -- a lifetime 3.96 ERA. But especially since he's joined the Twins, he always seems to save his best games for the Sox.

2. Michael Kopech's usage. Looking ahead a little bit, the Sox have a doubleheader against the Kansas City Royals on Friday, and they are considering using Kopech to start one of those games. But if the Sox have a high-leverage situation in the late innings against the Twins, such as extra innings, will manager Tony La Russa use Kopech to try to get the win? With all due respect to the Royals, my general feeling is still that Minnesota is a bigger threat to the Sox. No matter what the standings say at the moment, it's important to beat the Twins.

3. Yasmani Grandal's offense. It's starting to get a little insane for the Sox catcher, who is batting .113/.378/.242 so far this season. Grandal has appeared in five games in the month of May and taken 22 at-bats. He's 0 for 7 with five strikeouts, 14 walks and a sacrifice fly. Fourteen walks in 22 plate appearances for a guy who is batting .113 and can barely put the ball in play! At this point, you wonder why pitchers are not challenging Grandal more often.