CHICAGO _ Reynaldo Lopez's first month of the season might have looked like it was approaching Jose Quintana territory when it came to run support, but White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper wasn't buying the comparison Thursday afternoon.
"That comparison has to go about 40 more no decisions for him to get there," Cooper said of Quintana's long string of tough luck on the South Side.
Lopez entered Thursday night's series opener against the Twins with a 1.78 ERA and a 2.08 run-support average over his first five starts this year.
But Sox hitters turned the tide at Guaranteed Rate Field to help make a ballgame out of Lopez's worst start of the season.
Lopez gave up a season-high five runs _ four earned _ over 6 2/3 innings, but he left with the game tied at 5.
But in the ninth, Trayce Thompson homered to left field off Twins reliever Addison Reed with two outs to give the White Sox a 6-5 walk-off victory.
Cooper prefers to draw more positive comparisons anyway between Lopez and Quintana, who owns a 5.74 ERA over five starts with the Cubs this season.
"I'll tell you where he reminds me of Quintana: He's quiet, he's humble, he's talented," Cooper said. "You tell him something once, he puts it in his routine, doesn't forget it. ... And he works hard."
Lopez worked hard to keep the Sox in the game late.
He hasn't been in the majors long enough to have many hitters who might be classified as thorns in his side. But Logan Morrison, the only Twins hitter he had faced previously, took a step in that direction.
Morrison was 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs against Lopez last year while with the Rays. He added to that tally Thursday with a double, homer and single off Lopez.
The Twins took a 2-0 lead in the third after Morrison doubled and Gregorio Petit singled. Two straight passed balls against catcher Omar Narvaez allowed Morrison to score and Petit to reach third before he scored on a sacrifice fly.
Eddie Rosario's RBI double and Morrison's two-run homer in the fourth boosted the Twins to a 5-1 lead. But Lopez finished his outing by allowing just a single in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. He gave up six hits with two walks and no strikeouts.
"We certainly like his stuff," Cooper said before the game. "He competes, he has a good fastball, a really good changeup. Breaking balls, he has a curve and slider now. ... It has become a bigger pitch for him. He has good, strong stuff. When he gets ahead in the count he can be dangerous."
The Sox totaled 10 runs during their four-game losing streak against the Royals and the Cardinals.
They were down three starters Thursday with second baseman Yoan Moncada out healing a number of minor ailments and right fielder Avisail Garcia still rehabilitating from a right hamstring strain. Sox catcher Welington Castillo was scratched before the game with lower abdominal pain.
But they managed to stack up runs against Twins right-hander Jake Odorizzi.
Daniel Palka, facing his former organization, hit his second homer in a Sox uniform to cut the Twins' lead to 5-3 in the fourth. Yolmer Sanchez added an RBI single to make it a one-run game in the fifth.
"I think the most surprising part for me has been how similar everything is," Palka said of his first major-league call-up. "When you look at the superstars on TV, you don't realize that you're playing the same game, so it's fun."
Matt Davidson doubled, and Jose Abreu scored on right fielder Robbie Grossman's fielding error to tie it in the sixth.
