Twins hit 3 home runs in rout of rival White Sox

*Photo from Yahoo*

   The kids are doing fine in the northwest. Matt Wallner drove in a pair of runs, Royce Lewis homered, and the Minnesota Twins rolled past the Chicago White Sox with a 10-2 victory on Thursday night in Chicago.

   With the win, the Twins have won 6 of their last 10, improving to 77-70 as they continue to hold first place in the AL Central. With his homer, Lewis has homered in two of the last 4 games, while Wallner and Alex Kirilloff each drove in two runs.

   Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said after the game that "Our young players, they've started their Major League careers very well. They came in and produced from the very beginning. They came in and looked comfortable like they could just come in and resume the good play they were giving us in Triple-A."

   After the first 3 innings were scoreless, Edouard Julien started the scoring in the 4th. Julien hit a solo home run to make it 1-0 Twins. Lewis then followed it up with a solo shot of his own, doubling the lead to 2-0. In the 7th inning, Wallner hit a two run single, followed by a two run home run by Kyle Farmer to make it 6-0 Twins.

   In the bottom of the 7th, Andrew Vaughn got the White Sox on the board, ending the shutout with a two run home run to make it 6-2. It stayed that way until a Jorge Polanco RBI single in the 9th to make it 7-2. Christian Vazquez then scored on a bases loaded walk and Kirilloff hit a two run single, making it a 10-2 final score.

   Wallner said of the Twins recent success that "I just think we’re playing good baseball right now for the most part. Just kind of trying to not do too much or focus on it too much but just keep building on how we’ve been playing this past three weeks, and keep it going."

   Kenta Maeda was the starter for the Twins, allowing two runs on 4 hits and one walk, striking out 8 hitters in 7 innings. Josh Winder pitched a scoreless 8th inning and Brent Headrick did the same in the 9th to seal the win.

   Jose Urena started for the White Sox, getting charged with 6 runs on 7 hits over 6 1/3 innings. Bryan Shaw finished the 7th for Urena before Deivi Garcia allowed 4 runs in 1 2/3 innings. Sammy Peralta got the final out of the 9th.

   Up next, the series continues on Friday night. The Twins called up Bailey Ober from Triple A to get the start, while the White Sox send Jesse Scholtens to the mound.