MINNEAPOLIS _ The Twins returned to Target Field on Thursday night following a winless road trip left them one loss shy of tying a club record for the longest losing streak. And things didn't look favorable as they were matched up with tough White Sox left-hander Jose Quintana.
But they got a couple of big home runs and five tough innings from Ervin Santana, before the bullpen closed things out in an 8-5 victory over Chicago, the Twins' first victory since Aug. 17 at Atlanta.
The first pitch was thrown Thursday with a sparse crowd in attendance. The woebegone Twins have played themselves to the end of the list of options on a busy sports night in the Twin Cities. The Gophers football team opened its season at home, the Vikings were playing their final exhibition at their new stadium and the State Fair also was in play _ all options instead of watching a team that had been outscored by 129 runs in August.
The Twins hoped that coming home following an 0-6 road trip would provide a lift to end their 13-game losing streak.
"It's to the point where it is embarrassing now," second baseman Brian Dozier, who led the majors with 13 home runs in August, said before the game.
The Twins clubhouse has grown quieter and quieter after games as the losses have mounted to the point to where it's hard for the Twins to turn the page.
"When you're dealing with long losing streak, you are looking for things that are encouraging," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "You try to point out the positive. But it is on everyone's mind. It's been long time since we have shaken hands at the end of a ballgame. I think the guys are anxious to do that. Young guys talk about it. Veteran guys talk about it."
But the Twins fell behind quickly 1-0 on a RBI single by Melky Cabrera in the second inning Thursday. With Quintana on the mound _ he entered Thursday 2-1 with a 1.89 ERA over his previous five starts at Target Field _ the Twins looked to be in trouble early.
But the Twins got five consecutive hits off of Quintana in the fifth, the final one from the unlikeliest of people.
Two runs were already in, and Kurt Suzuki was on second and Eddie Rosario was on first. Quintana left a breaking ball over the middle of the plate to Byron Buxton, who was making his first start since being called up from Class AAA Rochester. Buxton, who began the day with a .199 batting average in 109 career games, didn't miss it.
Fans seemed to collectively pause before all yelling at once as the ball reached the second deck in left for a three-run homer and 5-1 Twins lead. Buxton hit four home runs in 20 games during his latest stint at Rochester _ and apparently remembered to pack his power for the trip back to the majors.
It should have been plenty of support for right-hander Santana, but he couldn't keep the White Sox off the base paths Thursday.
Cabrera doubled in a run in the fourth to make it 5-2, but the Twins took a 7-2 lead in the fifth on Trevor Plouffe's two-run blast. That was enough to chase Quintana from the game after he gave up seven earned runs, the most off him since April 19, 2015.
Santana made it through the fifth but needed 102 pitches to do so. He was replaced with Taylor Rogers for the sixth, and Jose Abreu launched a two-run homer to right as Chicago got within 7-4.
Kurt Suzuki added a RBI double in the sixth to give the Twins an 8-4 lead.
