Twins takeaways from win over White Sox, a first series victory worth the wait

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CHICAGO — The Minnesota Twins searched five long days before finally rediscovering the good feeling. They certainly weren’t going to let a rainstorm or three Wednesday afternoon prevent them from hanging onto it.

Following their first win of the season the night before, a much lighter mood pervaded the Twins clubhouse Wednesday morning despite a forecast full of rain.

Perhaps it was the looser vibe that helped the Twins remain sharp after a 200-minute rain delay, which they did in a near-flawless 6-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field that moved them into a five-way tie for first place in the American League Central. It was easily the Twins’ most complete win of the season.

Pablo López was outstanding for seven innings, Harrison Bader and Byron Buxton homered, and Buxton and Carlos Correa turned in defensive gems for the Twins, who play their home opener against the Houston Astros on Thursday afternoon.

“Once you get the first one, it’s so easy,” López said. “Once you get the first (batter), it’s a little easier to find your groove. It applies to the bigger picture, too. You get the first win out of the way, it’s like, ‘OK, we remember how to win, we remember what this feels like.’ … The mentality for today is, ‘How do we get the series win?’”

To reach that point, the Twins (2-4) had to beat the White Sox but also outlast the elements.

Though first pitch was scheduled for 1:10 p.m. CT, the Twins and White Sox knew the earliest they’d play was after 3 p.m. with the possibility of the teams sticking around until early evening. The clubs met several times during the afternoon to discuss the weather situation, both preferring to stick it out. Finally, at 3:30 p.m., it was determined the game would start an hour later.

Bader said good communication from Twins manager Rocco Baldelli and the coaching staff about potential scenarios was key. Knowing they weren’t going to play for several hours allowed the veteran to shut it down before he mentally locked back in.

Locked in at the plate over the previous five games, Bader stayed focused and belted another three-run homer to extend the Twins’ lead to 4-0 with two outs in the fourth inning. Bader leads the team with three homers and eight RBIs.

“You kind of turn your mind off, guys do that differently,” Bader said. “Once we knew we were going (to play), kind of turned it back on and stick with the routine.”

The Twins made the long layoff look like nothing out of the ordinary.

Buxton hit a tape-measure homer in the first and López brushed off the delay to retire the side in order on 12 pitches in the first inning. Looking nothing like he did on Opening Day, López took a shutout into the seventh inning before surrendering a solo homer.

Buxton and Correa then each flashed the leather with outstanding catches after long runs, while the shortstop snapped his o-fer, singling and doubling after 18 hitless at-bats.

“The guys came out very focused,” Baldelli said. “It started with Pablo. It’s not easy to sit around all day long when you know the weather could be really difficult and you got up early to get to the ballpark and to prepare. … I was very happy with what I saw from the group.

Buck Truck to start the game 😌 pic.twitter.com/eWmXkgvmxJ

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) April 2, 2025

Here are several other takeaways from the Twins’ first series victory of 2025.

• At the end of a long day, Correa admitted he initially didn’t want to play with all of the delays.

Not that it was ever in question, but it’s a good thing he did play.

Following another hard-hit out in the first inning, Correa snapped an 0-for-18 stretch to start the season with a seeing-eye single to the right side, a ball that carried a .180 expected average. After reaching first base, Correa threw up his arms in relief as teammates mockingly called for the ball like it was the first hit of his career.

Correa followed with a one-out double in the fifth inning and scored as the Twins extended their lead to 6-0.

“No frustration, just relief,” Correa said. “I didn’t know what to do any more. The first swing felt amazing. When I got that (hit), it was just have fun with the guys. … You don’t want to wait too long in this game, but it felt good to get on the board. It felt good to help the team today. It’s time to start rolling.”

Carlos Correa celebrates after his first hit of the season. (Matt Marton / Imagn Images)

• No Twins hitter endured worse luck over the first four games than first baseman Ty France, who struck the ball as well as he did in spring training but had nothing to show for it in the regular season. Singling up the middle to drive in a run during the team’s five-spot Tuesday seemed to break the seal for France, who jumpstarted another rally Wednesday with a single. France, who entered Wednesday with a .408 expected weighted on-base average but carried a .204 weighted on-base average, also doubled and is 4-for-8 since starting 1-for-14.

Healthy again after heel and wrist issues last season, France looks more like the hitter who posted a 127 OPS+ from 2020-2022 than the batter who struggled in 2024.

“Putting good at-bats together, putting good swings on balls,” France said. “It was a small sample size. All I could do was keep controlling what I can and keep rolling with that.”

• With the flags whipping around, the elements forced Buxton and Correa to each make long running catches well away from their normal positions. Buxton started in deep center on Nick Maton’s first-inning fly ball and raced at full speed before making a diving grab in shallow left-center for the first out.

Two innings later, Correa ran at full speed straight toward the fence to rob Maton of a second hit, this time with a basket catch.

“I haven’t saw a ball do that when I’m playing there,” Buxton said. “That was gnarly. I was literally over here and I’m running sideways. … Today was tough.”

Carlos Correa makes a basket catch in the third inning. (Justin Casterline / Getty Images)

• What do players do during a three-hour, 20-minute rain delay?

Buxton and López napped. A card game developed early in the middle of the clubhouse. Correa talked smack, ate, talked more smack and then headed to the batting cages to warm up.

Even though López is getting used to rain delays, he struggled a bit Wednesday, but it didn’t impact his pitching in a dominant outing.

“I was going insane,” López said. “It’s hard to turn it off and then turn it back on. It’s nearly impossible. But I was able to relax a little bit. … It’s strange. I don’t like it, but gotta deal with it.”

All those players’ solutions were seemingly better than one Twins beat writer, who accidentally got trapped in a ballpark stairwell full of locked doors for several minutes, a stretch that allowed for reflection about the meaning of life, before a passerby opened the door, thus freeing him.

On list of rain delay activities I recommend you avoid: getting stuck in a stairwell at a ballpark you’ve been to hundreds of times. By minute 4, I was thinking about the meaning of life. #MNTwins #WhiteSox

— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) April 2, 2025

(Top photo of Byron Buxton: Justin Casterline / Getty Images)

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