Max Kepler hit a go-ahead single in the ninth inning as the Minnesota Twins beat the host Chicago White Sox 3-2 on Monday for their eighth consecutive victory.
Chicago saw its three-game winning streak end in the opener of a three-game series.
With the score 2-2, Byron Buxton led off the top of the ninth by slashing a double into left against White Sox reliever John Brebbia (0-1). Kepler then drilled a 2-2 fastball into right to score Buxton.
Caleb Thielbar came on in the ninth for the Twins and allowed a pair of baserunners but struck out Korey Lee to end the game for his second save.
Griffin Jax (2-2) got the win after throwing a scoreless eighth inning.
Minnesota came out on top despite managing just four hits and striking out 11 times.
Chicago broke out on top 2-0 in the bottom of the first.
Nicky Lopez singled and scored when Andrew Vaughn laced a 3-2 pitch from Minnesota right-hander Joe Ryan for a double to left. Vaughn went to third on Gavin Sheets’ single and scored when Eloy Jimenez grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.
The Twins tied it up at 2-2 in the top of the second when Carlos Santana, batting from the right side, crushed a first-pitch slider from Chicago lefty Garrett Crochet 392 feet to left for his fourth homer, a two-run shot. Manuel Margot was on base after drawing a one-out walk.
Crochet worked five innings, giving up two runs on two hits with a walk and seven strikeouts over 77 pitches.
Ryan lasted six innings, allowing two runs on six hits with a walk and three strikeouts in an 86-pitch outing.
The Twins swept the White Sox in a four-game series in Minneapolis early last week. This week’s series in Chicago concludes on Wednesday.
The White Sox swept the visiting Tampa Bay Rays over the weekend.
