MINNEAPOLIS _ A week ago, the Twins left Chicago grumbling after losing three of five games to the White Sox. They should be bullying a youthful White Sox team while strengthening their grip on a wild-card spot.
But there was a silver lining. They were scheduled for eight games with Chicago over an 11-game period. That meant three more chances against the White Sox at Target Field.
And the Twins took advantage of mistakes by starter James Shields and rode Ervin Santana's effectiveness on the mound in a 6-4 victory. It's what a playoff hopeful does against a team out of contention _ takes care of business.
Shields, who has switched to more of a sidearm delivery to spice up his career, lasted only five innings Tuesday, giving up four earned runs on five hits and five walks with three strikeouts.
One of those home runs was to Jorge Polanco, who was batting left-handed in the third inning. Polanco returned in the seventh to hit a home run while batting right-handed. He became the fifth Twin to homer from both sides of the plate in the same game, joining Roy Smalley, Chili Davis, Ryan Doumit and Kennys Vargas.
The remaining schedule favors the Twins. Of their opponents, only the Yankees and Indians have better records than the Twins. Chicago is the worst of the rest, and the Twins need to treat them as such.
They didn't have to work very hard at that in the first inning when Shields gifted them two runs.
With runners on first and third and one out, Eddie Rosario hit a comebacker to Shields that should have been an inning-ending double play. Shields' throw, however, pulled shortstop Tim Anderson off the bag. Anderson was able to tag Joe Mauer for one out, but Rosario safely reached first. Brian Dozier, the runner on third, scored the first run of the game.
Rosario moved to second on a wild pitch, then scored on Byron Buxton's single to center. The Twins led 2-0 because of Shields' mistakes.
Polanco, who struck out on a breaking ball in the first inning, got a 3-1 fastball over the middle of the plate in the third inning and drove it over the right field wall for a solo home run to give the Twins a 3-0 lead. It was Polanco's fifth home run of the month.
Max Kepler singled, stole second then scored on Eduardo Escobar's single in the fourth, putting the Twins ahead 4-0.
The early run support allowed Santana to take a shutout into the sixth, where it ended on Avisail Garcia's RBI double to right-center. Santana faltered in the seventh when he gave up a leadoff double and hit a batter to start the inning. Yolmer Sanchez hit a sacrifice fly to get Chicago within 5-2, and that was it for Santana. He fell one out shy of pitching at least seven innings for the 12th time this season.
Trevor Hildenberger replaced Santana and gave up a bloop single to Jose Abreu that allowed Adam Engel to score from third and make it 5-3. Abreu noticed that no one was covering second base and took off for the bag. Hildenberger got to the bag and took the throw, but Abreu was able to maneuver around Hildenberger and touch second base safely.
That brought Garcia, the tying run, to the plate. But Hildenberger struck him out to end the inning.
