MINNEAPOLIS _ Brian Dozier's two solo home runs were the difference on Sunday as the Twins beat the White Sox 6-4 at Target Field to take two of three games in the series.
Right-hander Ervin Santana, the subject of more trade rumors prior to Monday's deadline, went six innings to improve to 4-9 on the season with a 3.66 ERA.
The home runs made up for a sloppy day in the field for the Twins, as they were charged with four errors and a ground ball in the eighth that was ruled a hit easily could have been called a fifth error.
The Twins jumped all over White Sox left-hander Carlos Rodon, who was rusty in his first start since coming off the disabled list because of a sprained left wrist.
Dozier led off the first with a double to the gap in left-center field gap. He moved to third on a wild pitch and scored when Robbie Grossman reached on an infield hit. Two batters later, Kenny Vargas clubbed a home run to center, and the Twins led 3-0.
Like Tommy Milone on Saturday, the two out hit bug affected right-hander Ervin Santana in the third inning. Three soft singles led to Chicago's first run, which was scored on Melky Cabrera's blooper to center field. The Twins took a 4-1 in the bottom of the inning on a RBI double by Jorge Polanco.
The White Sox scored twice in the fourth inning to close to within 4-3. The runs were gifts from the Twins defense, as Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario both committed throwing errors with two outs that directly led to the runs.
That's when Dozier provided some cushion. He hit a 421-foot homer in the fifth that struck the facing of the third deck, then he blasted a 387-foot shot into the seats in left-center in the seventh.
Dozier now has 19 home runs on the season, 14 coming in his last 52 games. He's batting .307 during that span.
