CHICAGO, July 24 (UPI) -- Kyle Lohse allowed one run over eight innings and David Ortiz hit one of three Minnesota homers Wednesday to lead the Minnesota Twins to an 8-1 victory in the rubber game of a three-game series.
The Twins own a 14-game lead over the White Sox in the American League Central but have a dozen games left with Chicago, including three next weekend at the Metrodome.
Minnesota looked like a team that had no desire to yield any ground.
Ortiz had three hits, including his 12th homer of the season off Jon Garland (8-8) to highlight a five-run fifth inning that gave the Twins an 8-0 lead.
Bobby Kielty hit a two-run homer in the second off Garland, who was tagged for seven runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings.
Doug Mientkiewicz added a two-run homer in the fifth off Rocky Biddle, giving the Twins 25 homers in their last 11 games.
That would more than enough for Lohse (10-5), whose outing was the longest of his career. He allowed eight hits, including a home run to Frank Thomas in the sixth, walked four and struck out four.
Thomas homered in his third straight game.
