Twins Rout White Sox, Rox Drop Series to Willmar, Lynx Host Vegas

The Minnesota Twins opened a three-game weekend home series against the White Sox with a resounding win on Friday, while the St. Cloud Rox got swept by Willmar. On Saturday, the Minnesota Lynx will host the first-place Aces.

RECAPS:

- The Twins beat Chicago 9-4 behind a hot offensive performance. The White Sox got on the board first with a lead-off home run. Minnesota responded in the bottom of the first with a two-run homer from Alex Kirilloff and a three-run homer from Byron Buxton to take a 5-1 lead. After that things cooled down in the second and third inning. Buxton added to the Twins' total in the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run on his second long ball of the day. Another solo homer in the inning from Ryan Jeffers moved Minnesota out to 7-1. The White Sox started to rally in the top of the fifth, closing the gap to 7-2. Chicago kept their momentum going in the sixth, scoring two more runs, but came up short on their effort to catch the Twins. Joe Ryan struck out 10 batters and allowed four runs on seven hits through the first six innings. Emilio Pagan and Jovani Moran combined for one hit and two strikeouts in the final three innings. The Twins improve to 51-48 while the White Sox fall to 41-58. The teams will take the field for game two on Saturday. Pre-game coverage starts at 5:30 p.m. on AM 1240 and 95.3 FM WJON.

- The Rox fell in a back-and-forth game at home against the Stingers. After two scoreless innings, Willmar put up four runs in the third inning. The visitors extended their lead to 8-0 in the top of the fourth. St. Cloud finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth, scoring five runs to cut their deficit to three runs. In the bottom of the sixth, the Rox took their first lead of the day, scoring four runs to move ahead 9-8. Willmar was not done yet though. The Stingers ran in five more in the top of the seventh to lock up the win 13-9. Haiden Hunt led St. Cloud with three RBIs on the day. Piercen McElyea threw two strikeouts, and allowed four runs on two hits through the first three innings on the mound for St. Cloud. The bullpen combined for seven strikeouts, seven hits, and nine runs. The Rox fall to 30-20 and trail Willmar by seven games in the division. St. Cloud will stay home Saturday when they host Bismarck (21-31) in game one of the weekend series. Pre-game coverage starts at 5:35 p.m. on AM 1390 and 93.9 FM KXSS.

PREVIEWS:

- The Lynx (10-12) will host no.1 Las Vegas (20-2) in the fourth and final matchup between the two teams this season. Minnesota is on a one-game winning streak after sweeping the Sparks, while the Aces have won their last four. Vegas beat the Lynx in the other three games this year by an average of 25 points. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. at Target Center.