Martin Allows Two Hits in Six Innings, White Sox Take Three of Four From Twins With 6-2 Win

CHICAGO — The Twins were supposed to send Kendry Rojas to the mound Thursday. He was scratched before the game with posterior elbow soreness, and Minnesota pieced together a bullpen day instead. Simeon Woods Richardson drew the assignment.

Davis Martin got the ball for the White Sox and was never in trouble.

Martin allowed two hits in six innings — both to Tristan Gray, who singled in the third and doubled in the fifth to break up a shutout — and the White Sox won 6-2 to take three of four from Minnesota. He is 8-1 with a 2.00 ERA. He has won six straight decisions, the most by a White Sox pitcher in a single stretch since Lance Lynn in 2021. He has won eight of his first eleven starts, something no White Sox pitcher has done since Lucas Giolito in 2019.

The Two-Out Offense

The White Sox scored their first five runs with two outs.

Vargas scored in the first on a Colson Montgomery two-out single. In the third, Peters drove in a run on a bases-loaded infield single. Then Grichuk cleared the bases with a double down the right-field line — three runs, third pitcher of the day for Minnesota, and a 5-0 lead. Murakami added another in the fourth, with one out, on a bloop double to left that just got past Gray.

Woods Richardson was gone after 2.2 innings, having allowed five runs on five hits. He is 0-7.

Grichuk finished 1-for-4 with three RBI. Peters had three hits.

Martin

Martin turned 29 in January. He debuted in 2022, had Tommy John surgery the following May, came back in 2024 and was winless in ten starts, then won seven games last year. None of that context fully explains what he is doing in 2026.

He is 4-0 with a 1.21 ERA in five starts at Rate Field. He is tied for the American League lead with eight wins. His ERA, WHIP, and strikeout totals rank among the best in the game. He has gone at least six innings in every start this month.

Thursday was as clean as it gets. Eighty-four pitches, fifty-six strikes, two hits — both singles from Gray, a walk here and there, nothing that threatened to unravel anything. He induced nine groundballs. He punched out five. The Twins had runners on base four times across six innings and drove in zero runs.

"It's a fun team," Martin said. "I think you talk about our offense bangs, we play great defense, it leads to these types of things. I don't think it's anything that I'm doing different, it's a byproduct of a team doing a lot of good stuff together."

Tristan Peters, watching from center field all year, put it more directly: "It's incredible to watch. I feel like it makes my job easy out there. Especially seeing it from center field, too, just the way his ball moves. No wonder people are struggling to hit it."

Series, Month, Season

The White Sox took three of four from the Twins and have won 12 of their last 18 games. They are 29-27 — above .500 for two straight days after dipping back to even Wednesday night. They went 15-10 in May, their first winning month since May 2023.

After three straight seasons of 101 losses or more, it is worth sitting with that number for a moment.

Minnesota leaves Chicago at 27-30. Cleveland is still four games up.

What's Next

The White Sox open a three-game home series against Detroit on Friday. Erick Fedde (0-5, 5.47 ERA) starts for Chicago against Tigers right-hander Troy Melton (1-0, 1.59 ERA). First pitch is 6:40 p.m. Central.