The Twins' mission to put ground between themselves and the White Sox and Guardians in the American League Central before the All-Star break didn't exactly get off to a great start.
Chicago beat the Twins 12-3 at Target Field on Thursday night, and Cleveland shut out Detroit to narrow the gap in the Central. The White Sox are within four games and the Guardians within 31⁄2 with entering play on Friday.
The Twins and Sox play the second of a four-game series tonight (7:10, BSN) with lefthander Devin Smeltzer (4-2, 3.92 ERA) facing Chicago righthander Michael Kopech (2-6, 3.35).
In a late move, catcher Ryan Jeffers (thumb) went on the 10-day injured list and catcher Caleb Hamilton was called up from St. Paul. He'll be making his major league debut if he appears in a game this weekend.
The 27-year-old Hamilton is hitting .252 with 10 homers in 49 games for St. Paul. He was a 23rd round pick in 2016 out of Oregon State.
Chicago has lost five of seven to the Twins this season; the teams will meet 19 times before it's all said and done.
Although the Twins statistically are among baseball's best-hitting teams, they are only hitting .208 (20-for-96) with runners in scoring position in their past 12 games.
WHITE SOX LINEUP
