Arcia HR in 10th lifts Twins past White Sox 3-2

CHICAGO — The Minnesota Twins weren't making much contact. They were making it count, though.

Oswaldo Arcia homered leading off the 10th inning, and Minnesota beat the Chicago White Sox 3-2 to complete the day-night doubleheader sweep on Friday.

Josh Willingham and Chris Hermann also went deep in the game, and the Twins hit a combined seven homers on the day on the way to the sweep even though they struck out 25 times.

"You don't win too many ballgames when you strike out (24) times," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "The ball flies here. We put some good swings out there, got enough runs. The bullpen did a great job. Starters did a great job for us."

Brian Duensing (6-1) struck out the lone batter he faced in the opener and then worked a scoreless ninth to become the first pitcher to win both games of a doubleheader since the Yankees' Luis Vizcaino on July 21, 2007, according to STATS LLC. He also is the first in franchise history to win two games on the same day since Walter Johnson in 1923, according to information provided to the team by the Elias Sports Bureau.

"I was kind of in the right place at the right time," Duensing said. "I think all of our pitchers threw the ball really well today."

All that came after the White Sox made a big move before the opener, trading Alex Rios to Texas.

In the second game, Minnesota was trailing 2-1 heading into the eighth when Willingham greeted reliever Matt Lindstrom with a leadoff homer.

Arcia, who homered in the first game, put the Twins ahead when he drove a 1-0 pitch from Dylan Axelrod (4-9) well beyond the center-field wall leading off the 10th.

Glen Perkins hit Avisail Garcia leading off the bottom half, but he ended it by retiring Alexei Ramirez on a fly to right with a runner on third for his 28th save in 31 chances.

That gave the White Sox 12 losses in 15 games and wiped out whatever momentum they built by sweeping the New York Yankees.

Hermann homered off Charlie Leesman in the fourth to give the Twins a 1-0 lead, but Chicago's Alexei Ramirez tied it with a solo drive in the bottom half against Liam Hendriks. That came hours after he hit a two-run shot, ending a home run drought that dated to April 3 and spanned 451 at-bats.

Leesman dodged several tight spots in his major league debut but left to a nice ovation after he walked Chris Colabello leading off the sixth. He allowed one run and four hits, and was headed back to Triple-A after having his contract purchased earlier in the day.

Hendriks lasted 6 1-3 innings and gave up two runs and seven hits before heading back to Triple-A Rochester.

Caleb Thielbar came in with runners on first and third and struck out Garcia — the promising outfielder who arrived late after being called up following the Rios trade —batting for Tekotte.

"That situation called for him being put in the game," manager Robin Ventura said. "We didn't really hesitate. He was there for awhile."

Clete Thomas made a nice running catch on Alejandro De Aza's fly to center to end the threat, and White Sox second baseman Gordon Beckham saved a run with a diving stop against a pinch-hitting Joe Mauer with two on and two out in the eighth.

His grand slam off reliever Nate Jones with two out in the seventh wiped out a 3-1 deficit. He added a solo drive in the ninth off Ramon Troncoso, making it 7-3.

Perkins gave up a two-run single to Ramirez in the bottom half before striking out Adam Dunn to end the game.

Colabello and Oswaldo Arcia also went deep for Minnesota and the Twins came away with the win after dropping two of three at Kansas City.

Chicago's Paul Konerko tied Cal Ripken Jr. with his 431st home run. Ramirez made it 3-1 with a two-run drive in the fifth, and the White Sox fell after sweeping three from the New York Yankees.

John Danks was in line for his first win since July 2, but the bullpen couldn't hold it for him.

Matt Lindstrom struck out Brian Dozier before Donnie Veal (1-3) walked Joe Mauer to load the bases.

Then, after Jones struck out Josh Willingham, Morneau drove a 1-2 pitch out to right. The grand slam was the seventh of his career and his first since July 20, 2009, at Oakland.

Gibson lasted 5 2-3 innings for Minnesota and allowed three runs and four hits, including the drives by Konerko and Ramirez. He struck out four and walked four.

Duensing (5-1) struck out Tekotte to end the sixth.