It’s not very often that you see Twins fans rooting on the Chicago White Sox. OK, it almost NEVER happens.

But with the White Sox being the only team left to play the Tigers this season other than the Twins, Minnesota fans have to hope that Chicago can pick up its fair share of wins over Detroit down the stretch.

That’s why it’s no surprise that Gordon Beckham and Jake Peavy became instant favorites in Minnesota on Friday night. Beckham hit a two-run home run and Peavy threw seven scoreless innings to take a 2-0 win over Detroit in the series opener, cutting the Tigers lead to two games over the Twins in the AL Central with nine games left to play.

“I just got a text from someone saying the Twins fans are happy,” said Beckham after the contest.

While the White Sox have been eliminated from the race, they certainly understand the importance of them continuing to play hard over the final stretch of games as they can have an impact on the AL Central winner.

“We’re out, but we have to play very important games against Detroit,”
White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. “It’s not an important game for
us, but I think we continue to go out there and we continue to have a
job to do and win as many games as we can. We should prepare ourselves
mentally every day. We’ve got to continue to play the same way we
should be playing.”

And the White Sox have become aware that they can make a few more friends in Minnesota if they continue to win.

“As a matter of fact, I’ve got a guy who dates a girl in Minneapolis,
and I just got quite a bit of texts, and he said, ‘You guys are
popular,'” said Peavy. “He said we’re heroes there tonight.”