Houdini, Ozzie and Friends

Johnny Cueto channeled his inner Houdini last night at Target Field, stranding Twin after Twin in what started off as a close game before Luis Robert launched a 452-foot grand slam in the fourth inning to turn it into a rout, White Sox 12 Twins 2. Cueto was staked to two runs in the first, and the Twins answered with one in the home half of the second, runners on the corners and nobody out. That’s when Luis Arraez flied out to left fielder A.J. Pollock, who proceeded to throw out Gio Urshela at the plate. That’s when I figured this could be the visitors’ night. I’ve been watching the Sox postgame show lately because Ozzie Guillen is so good, his recent crack about Tony La Russa being “Rick Renteria with credentials” just one of many examples. Scott Podsednik isn’t bad, either. Wednesday, he talked about the need for Robert to lay off sliders away and just attack pitches in the zone. The talented twenty-four year old must be listening, what with three straight three-hit games. Now, back to Cueto, who needed 103 pitches to get through five innings—he volunteered to pitch the six and struck out the side, no less. Nice, just like those seventeen hits his teammates collected. It should be interesting to see what, if anything, rubs off on Michael Kopech, tonight’s starter. Ozzie will share his thoughts postgame, for sure.