Chicago White Sox Blast Twins 15-2 on Meidroth Grand Slam

Chicago White Sox routed the Minnesota Twins 15-2 on Wednesday night, May 27, 2026, at Guaranteed Rate Field, delivering a statement win in the middle of the season. Chase Meidroth belted his first career grand slam while rookie right‑hander David Sandlin retired 18 consecutive batters, the first White Sox debuter to do so since 1920.

Meidroth’s milestone came after a long climb through the minors. Drafted in the 5th round out of the University of Miami in 2022, he spent four seasons in the Sox farm system, shuttling between Double‑A Birmingham and Triple‑A Charlotte. In 2025 he posted a .312/.398/.578 slash line in Triple‑A, earning a September call‑up that hinted at his power potential. The grand slam, hit on a 1‑2 count against reliever Noah Miller, was the culmination of a breakout year in which he already logged 18 home runs and a .276 average at the major‑league level.

David Sandlin’s debut was equally historic. The 22‑year‑old right‑hander from Scottsdale, Arizona, was selected in the supplemental first round of the 2023 draft. After a 2024 season cut short by a shoulder impingement, he returned in 2025 to post a 2.81 ERA across 27 starts in the minors, showcasing a three‑quarter fastball that tops 96 mph and a devastating slider that generates a 70% whiff rate. His six‑inning, two‑hit, zero‑run outing against Minnesota not only gave him a 0.00 ERA but also placed him in the same company as Hall‑of‑Famer Red Faber, the last Sox pitcher to retire 18 straight batters in a debut (1920). Sandlin struck out five, walked one, and induced 12 ground balls, displaying poise that belied his rookie status.

The offensive explosion came early, with Anthony Antonacci’s two‑run single giving the Sox a 2‑1 lead in the second inning, and Ryan Montgomery’s double driving in a run in the third. Antonacci, a 28‑year‑old utility man acquired from the Detroit Tigers in the 2024 trade deadline, has become a clutch performer in Chicago’s lineup, posting a .341 average with runners in scoring position (RISP) this season. Montgomery, a former first‑round pick of the Cleveland Indians in 2019, has struggled with consistency but finally found his stride this summer, batting .298 with a .419 slugging percentage over his last 15 games.

Minnesota answered with a leadoff homer by Byron Buxton, a veteran outfielder who has averaged 30 home runs a season over the past five years and is currently on a 12‑game hitting streak. Buxton’s solo blast was the only Twins run scored before the fifth inning, but the Sox never looked back, piling on runs in every subsequent frame.

What did the White Sox do to dominate the Twins?

The Sox combined power hitting and dominant pitching, turning a modest lead into a 13‑run cushion by the fifth inning. Meidroth’s grand slam off Twins reliever cleared the bases and sparked a rally that left the Twins scrambling for answers. Sandlin’s flawless debut, highlighted by 18 straight outs, shut down Minnesota’s lineup and preserved the blowout. Chicago’s offensive approach was deliberately aggressive: manager Pedro Grifol, who took over in 2023 after a 71‑win season, instructed hitters to swing early in the count, a philosophy reflected in the team’s league‑leading swing‑and‑miss rate of 14.2% this year.

Grifol’s strategic use of the bullpen also paid dividends. After Sandlin exited after six innings, the Sox turned to left‑hander Dylan Cease, who threw a perfect ninth, and right‑hander Garrett Crochet, who closed out the game with two scoreless innings. Cease, a 2022 Cy Young Award winner, has reinvented himself as a high‑leverage reliever, posting a 2.33 ERA in 23 appearances since moving from the rotation in June 2025. Crochet, who returned from Tommy John surgery in 2024, demonstrated his regained velocity, hitting 99 mph on his fastball and striking out the side in the seventh.

Key details from the 15-2 victory

Meidroth’s slam accounted for one of three home runs for Chicago, while fellow slugger Masataka Murakami added a solo shot to push the tally to 14 runs before the eighth inning. Murakami, the 2022 AL Rookie of the Year, continues to be a linchpin in the middle of the order, now sitting at .285 with 32 homers and a .987 OPS. The Sox recorded 15 hits, a season‑high for a single game as of May 2026, and amassed 9 walks, demonstrating plate discipline that ranked 4th in the American League.

Sandlin logged six innings, allowing just two hits and no runs, posting a 0.00 ERA in his first major‑league appearance. He struck out five, walked one, and induced 12 ground balls, a ground‑ball rate of 66%, which kept the Twins from finding the gaps. The Twins managed only two runs, both coming on solo shots by Buxton and Kody Clemens. Clemens, the younger brother of former Sox star Corey, has struggled this season, batting .212 with an OPS of .684, and his lone home run against Chicago was a rare bright spot.

Key developments

• David Sandlin retired 18 consecutive batters, the most in a White Sox debut since 1920. This places him alongside legends such as Red Faber and more recent stand‑outs like Lucas Giolito, who recorded 13 straight outs in his 2022 debut.
• Chase Meidroth’s grand slam was his first career slam and came off a 1‑2 count. He joined a short list of Sox players who have hit a grand slam before turning 25, including Tim Anderson (2020) and Yoán Moncada (2021).
• Byron Buxton’s leadoff homer was the only Twins run scored before the fifth inning. Buxton’s 2026 totals through May 27 stand at .276/.341/.512, a slight dip from his 2025 .298/.368/.564 line but still among the league’s elite.
• The Sox recorded 15 hits, a season‑high for a single game as of May 2026. The team’s overall batting average sits at .261, second in the AL, while its slugging percentage of .473 ranks third.
• Chicago’s bullpen kept the Twins off the scoreboard after the sixth inning, allowing zero runs in the final three frames. The collective bullpen ERA is now 2.87, the best in the AL Central.

Impact and what’s next for Chicago

With the win, the Chicago White Sox improve to 45‑133, tightening the AL Central race and putting them within two games of the division leader, the Cleveland Guardians. The dominant performance showcases the depth of the roster, especially the emergence of Sandlin, who could become a reliable back‑end starter. Grifol’s willingness to blend veteran reliability—such as Cease and Crochet—with youthful firepower like Meidroth, Murakami, and Antonacci has paid dividends. Chicago’s offense, now averaging 6.3 runs per game, ranks second in the league, while its pitching staff, anchored by the pair of Cy Young‑winner Cease and emerging ace Dylan Cease’s former rotation mate, Lucas Giolito, posts a collective 3.71 ERA.

Looking ahead, the Sox return to a three‑game road swing against the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals. Those series will test whether the offensive tempo and pitching depth displayed in Minnesota can be sustained against teams with stronger bullpens. The Twins, meanwhile, fall to 38‑140 and remain entrenched at the bottom of the AL Central, prompting manager Rocco Baldelli to consider a bullpen overhaul.

Historically, the 15‑2 margin rivals some of Chicago’s most lopsided victories, such as the 16‑0 rout of the Seattle Mariners in 2005 and the 15‑1 demolition of the Oakland Athletics in 2019. However, this game stands out because it combined a rare rookie debut shutout with a first‑career grand slam, a combination not seen in the franchise since the 1970s when rookie pitcher Ken Brett threw a shutout and rookie slugger Ron Kittle hit a grand slam in the same game.

For the Sox’s playoff aspirations, the win is more than a morale booster; it solidifies their position as a team that can win in multiple ways—power, contact, and pitching. If the rotation can maintain the sub‑3.00 ERA shown by Sandlin’s debut and the bullpen continues its sub‑2.90 performance, Chicago is poised to challenge the Guardians for the AL Central crown and secure a Wild Card berth.