Playing the Twins is never fun for Sox fans. Tonight’s game was no different as the Twins beat the Sox 4-1 in Minnesota.

Jake Peavy had a rough starting to his outing. He gave up three runs in the first and second innings, but once he settled down, he pitched much better. He gave up ten hits and a walk while striking out seven in six innings. Peavy pitched tonight with a heavy heart. One of the men he called a mentor, San Diego Padres bullpen coach Darrel Akerfelds, passed away yesterday at the age of 50 after battling pancreatic cancer. Peavy normally texted Akerfelds the day of his starts, and he told MLB.com today that talking to Akerfelds’ girlfriend this morning was very tough.

After Peavy picked himself up, the bullpen came on and pitched…well, it was interesting. Hector Santiago pitched a third of an inning, giving up two hits and two walks which led to an earned run when Nate Jones came out to finish the seventh. He didn’t allow a hit, but he did give up two walks. Will Ohman came out for the eighth and gave up two hits without allowing a run.

Unfortunately for Peavy, the offense was basically nonexistent. Kevin Youkilis picked up his first hit as a White Sox in the eighth. Alex Rios and Alexei Ramirez were the only other two players to pick up a hit, and they each notched two. Ramirez batted in Rios in the seventh on a sac fly after Rios doubled to lead off the inning and moved to third on a wild pitch by Twins starter Francisco Liriano.

Losing to the Twins is normally tough, but when the Twins are having a less-than-stellar season and the Sox are in first, it’s extra tough. Hopefully tomorrow the Sox can get back on track when Gavin Floyd faces Liam Hendriks. Floyd is 5-7 and pitched 6.1 scoreless innings against the Cubs in his last outing. Hendriks is 0-4 and winless in his 10 career starts.