Walker Jenkins went 1-for-3 at the plate during his major-league debut on Friday night against the Chicago White Sox.
The Minnesota Twins didn't get the result they wanted on Friday against the AL Central rival Chicago White Sox when they came up short 7-4, but their newest major-league callup, Walker Jenkins, showed promise as he went 1-for-3 at the plate.
With Chicago ahead 6-4 in the fourth inning, Jenkins recorded his lone hit of the matchup, singling on the first pitch that he saw during his second at-bat versus Chicago right-hander Luis Castillo.
The 21-year-old outfielder put up another competitive at-bat in the sixth, drawing a six-pitch walk off reliever Hagen Smith, although it amounted to nothing when Luke Keaschall grounded out into an inning-ending double play.
Still, Jenkins' growing pains were evident when he flew out on an 87-mph changeup in the second while striking out looking in the ninth on a 91-mph four-seamer near the heart of the zone.
The White Sox took control of the game early in the first when Andrew Benintendi drove in Miguel Vargas with a one-run single while Colson Montgomery extended the lead to 4-0 with a three-run homer to right field.
The Twins battled back when Brooks Lee launched a two-run blast and Kody Clemens hit a solo shot to bring the game within one that same inning. Lee went on to tie the matchup at 4-4 in the second, bringing home Trevor Larnach with an RBI single.
Nonetheless, Benintendi reclaimed the lead in the third with a one-run double that scored Munetaka Murakami while a costly passed ball by Ryan Jeffers allowed Tristan Peters to reach home and tack on another run in the fourth.
Chicago pulled away in the eighth off another Minnesota blunder in which a wild pitch by Travis Adams resulted in Chase Meidroth scoring.
With the loss, Jenkins is now batting .333 while recording an .833 OPS. Meanwhile, he batted .308 and recorded 28 RBI plus 12 home runs for Triple-A St. Paul prior to receiving his long-awaited promotion to the big-league club.
Besides him, Kaelen Culpepper has been another young standout for Minnesota, making his debut earlier in the month.
As Minnesota remains set on making a late-season playoff push, both will heavily be counted on to provide a crucial spark to the rest of the team's lineup headlined by Keaschall and veteran Josh Bell.
Jenkins should get his next opportunity to contribute this afternoon at 2:10 p.m. EDT when the Twins face off against right-hander Erick Fedde.
