CHICAGO (AP) — The Minnesota Twins were well on their way by the time Alex Kirilloff started knocking the ball over the wall. He just helped put the game away.
Kirilloff hit two of Minnesota’s five homers, Jorge Polanco went deep on his birthday for the second time, and the Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 8-2 on Tuesday night.
Kirilloff went back to back with Polanco against slumping White Sox starter Michael Kopech in a three-run fifth, and then hit a two-run drive against Vince Velasquez in the seventh. The lefty-swinging Kirilloff drove the ball the opposite way both times in his second career multihomer game.
“He’s a hitter first,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He’s not a guy that’s just going up there trying to pull the ball and hit it in the seats. But when you stay on the ball and you stay through the ball the way that he does very naturally, he has a chance to still hit it in the seats — but the left-field seats. He can drive the ball that way very, very well.”
Max Kepler and Jose Miranda also connected, and the AL Central-leading Twins finished one homer shy of their season high.
Josh Winder pitched five solid innings on short notice after Chris Archer went on the 15-day injured list because of tightness in his left hip, and Minnesota improved to 5-0 against the reigning division champions.
The game was delayed 35 minutes in the bottom of the eighth because of rain. By then, the Twins were in control.
GOING DEEP
Kepler got things started in the third with a solo drive to the right-field bullpen. He also singled and scored on Polanco’s two-run shot in the fifth.
Miranda made it 3-0 in the fourth with a two-run drive to left following a leadoff single by Kirilloff.
The Twins broke it open in the fifth and chased Kopech, with Polanco and Kirilloff delivering…