The Twins said goodbye to the Chicago White Sox for the remainder of the season on Sunday, leaving them with a not-so-fond farewell in the form of a 13-7 Minnesota victory at Target Field.

It was a familiar sendoff.

The loss was Chicago’s 20th straight. The White Sox are now one defeat away from tying the 1988 Orioles’ American League record for futility. The major league record belongs to the 1961 Phillies, who dropped 23 straight contests.

This year’s White Sox (27-87) keep some terrible company among the all-time worst teams in baseball. Their current winning percentage (.236) would rank second worst among teams in the modern era, which dates back to 1901, besting only the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics (36-117).

Credit to the Twins (62-48), who took full advantage of sharing a division with the deepest of cellar dwellers. Minnesota played the White Sox 13 times this season, and won 12 of the contests — capped by one last final sweep this weekend in Minneapolis.

That’s what had to make Sunday bittersweet for the Twins. Another win, yes, but the comfort of virtually guaranteed victory disappears as the White Sox drop off the schedule over the final two months.

The bats took advantage of the AL-worst pitching staff, tagging White Sox starter Chris Flexen (2-11) for eight runs in fewer than two innings. Only six of those were earned, as Flexen would’ve gotten through the first inning unfazed if not for a two-out error by second baseman Brooks Baldwin that allowed Max Kepler to reach base and Byron Buxton to score.

Not only does Chicago sport the highest ERA in the AL (4.85), but the White Sox also have the league’s second-worst fielding percentage (.983), ahead of only Boston.

Royce Lewis took Flexen deep in the second for his 13th homer of the year to put the Twins up 7-0. Jose Miranda and Willie Castro each had three hits on a day where every starter in the Twins’ starting lineup logged at least one hit.

Minnesota’s pitching staff wasn’t great Sunday. Simeon Woods Richardson followed up a short start against the Mets with a four-inning outing Sunday in which he allowed six hits and three runs while also walking three. Relievers Jorge Alcala and Randy Dobnak were also roughed up, while Cole Sands (5-1) pitched two scoreless innings after Woods Richardson.

It didn’t matter. There was never a point in which it felt as though the White Sox were going to win the game — not Sunday, not ever.

Along with the implementation of the expanded playoff format in 2023, Major League Baseball also decided to balance out the schedule, so intra-division dominance wouldn’t be such a determining factor for the three wild card spots. That meant divisional rivals would square off just 13 times in a single campaign, down from 19 in years past.

The White Sox ineptitude this season signals some impressive foresight from MLB, because both the Royals and Twins — Central teams currently occupying two of the three wild card positions in the AL — went 12-1 against Chicago, and are minimally above .500 against all other foes.

Allowing both teams to play six more games this season against such a hapless squad would’ve — in some way — jeopardized the pursuit of identifying the league’s seven true top teams.

Because there is no doubt as to who the worst team is. The 2024 White Sox are ineptitude personified.

The 2024 Twins thank them for their contributions to Minnesota’s current playoff positioning, and now bid them adieu.

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