Erick Fedde’s control was off just a tick to begin Game 1 of Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Minnesota Twins.
The Chicago White Sox starter went to a full count to each of the first three batters. He issued a walk, surrendered a single and then another walk to load the bases with no outs.
It was so dire that reliever Chad Kuhl started warming up in the bullpen.
Fedde shook off the rust at just the right time. First, he got Jose Miranda to fly out to shallow center field. The ball wasn’t hit deep enough to score the runner from third.
Fedde then struck out Carlos Santana. And he escaped the jam without allowing a run when Brooks Lee grounded into a forceout.
“I thought to myself, ‘I can’t let my first half go to waste on an inning like this,’ ” Fedde said. “I need to bear down and get through it. Luckily made some pitches and got through with a zero.”
Fedde settled in from there, pitching five scoreless innings in a 3-1 victory in Game 1 of the doubleheader at Guaranteed Rate Field.
The Sox could not complete the doubleheader sweep, losing 3-2 in Game 2.
The Sox built a 2-0 lead before Lee and Carlos Correa hit back-to-back home runs for the Twins against starter Drew Thorpe in the sixth. Ryan Jeffers broke the tie with an RBI single against Sox reliever Michael Soroka in the seventh.
The Sox dropped two of three in the series. Wednesday’s Game 1 victory served as their first win against the Twins this season. They had lost the first eight meetings.
Photos: Chicago White Sox beat Minnesota Twins 3-1 in Game 1 of doubleheader
Fedde led the way in the win, allowing four hits, struck out five and walked two in the 90-pitch outing while lowering his ERA to 2.99. Fedde ranked ninth in the American League and 13th in the majors in the category at the time of his exit.
Manager Pedro Grifol made a case of Fedde joining Garrett Crochet for the All-Star Game if a pitching slot becomes available.
“How he’s not a part of that All-Star Game, I don’t really understand it,” Grifol said. “He’s top five in the league in WAR, has a 2.99 ERA. He’s 7-3, some people don’t think that’s a big deal, but that’s a big deal. These guys get paid to win baseball games. He’s given us a chance to win every time out.
“To take a record into the break of 7-3 when our team is not winning many games is a tribute to him. Eleven out of 19 starts has gone six innings or more. This kid is extremely deserving of representing the White Sox in the All-Star Game.”
Fedde appreciated the sentiment but said, “That’s one where there are plenty of deserving players.”
“Of course I would be honored to do something like that,” Fedde said, “but you know, I’m a big believer if you don’t like it, play a little better, right? We’ll see what happens.”
It’s been an impressive first half for Fedde, who signed a two-year, $15 million deal with the Sox in the offseason after earning MVP honors in the Korea Baseball Organization in 2023.
He entered Wednesday tied for fourth among all pitchers in bWAR (3.9). Before the game, Grifol praised Fedde’s consistency.
“The reports that we got from Korea last year were spot on on who Erick Fedde is: consistent, weapons, competitor, keeps you in ballgames, gives you a chance to win, great makeup, durable,” Grifol said. “You name it, that’s what he’s brought to the table for us. He’s a really good major-league pitcher.
“I didn’t see Erick when he was with Washington (2017-22). Obviously I saw some video this offseason of him in Korea. You don’t just win MVPs for the hell of it, I don’t care what league you’re in. You’re doing something really good and you’ve figured something out. And he did. He’s been as consistent as anybody in baseball.”
Fedde said he’s “very happy” with the first-half performance.
“Still a lot of starts left, a lot of time to make it better or make it worse,” he said. “Trying not to think too much about it. I couldn’t be happier with myself in the first half. I’ve thrown well, grown, for the most part.”
Fedde exited Wednesday with a 1-0 lead thanks to a sacrifice fly in the fifth by Paul DeJong. Luis Robert Jr. hit a two-run homer against Twins starter Bailey Ober in the sixth, making it 3-0.
The Sox had a 3-1 lead in the ninth when Michael Kopech threw nine pitches, all strikes, for his ninth save.
“You could definitely say I needed that,” Kopech said. “It’s been a tough stretch, just felt a little bit inconsistent. Had a game plan that I’ve been tentative to lean on, and we finally leaned into it (more offspeed pitches) the last couple days.
“(Catcher) Korey (Lee has) done a great job of sticking with me through that, and to see it pay off was extremely rewarding. I didn’t expect it to be in that manner, but it was pretty fun.”
Kopech said he previously accomplished an immaculate inning during “a lower-level minor-league game.” According to statistician Christopher Kamka, the last White Sox immaculate inning on record was from Hollis “Sloppy” Thurston on Aug. 22, 1923.
“This one felt a little better,” he said.
The Sox carried over the momentum early in Game 2. Andrew Benintendi had an RBI double in the second and Martín Maldonado homered in the third for a 2-0 lead.
Thorpe surrendered the back-to-back home runs with one out in the sixth. He allowed the two runs on three hits with one strikeout and one walk in six innings.
“I’d take that pretty much every day,” Thorpe said. “Mixed around. They were super aggressive. Pitch count was really low (76). They were swinging a lot early, a lot of weak contact. It was overall pretty solid.”
Byron Buxton began the seventh with a double against Soroka and scored on the one-out single by Jeffers. Soroka fell to 0-10.
The Sox were limited to four hits in the nightcap and had a combined eight hits on the day.
“We couldn’t muster anything past those runs early on,” Grifol said. “Our starters are doing a good job every night, giving us a chance to win against some good teams. Just have to keep it going.”
