On Tuesday, the White Sox earned their first back-to-back wins, taking down the Tampa Bay Rays in a series finale on Sunday and following up with a walk-off win over the Twins on Tuesday.
Andrew Benintendi came up clutch in that game, robbing a Carlos Correa home run in the first and walking off the Twins in the 10th inning with an opposite-field single to score Hanser Alberto.
On Wednesday, the White Sox were gifted a Dylan Cease day against the Twins. Except, he gave up all of the runs the Twins scored in five innings, allowing four runs and one home run before being yanked.
Uncharacteristically, the bullpen held the Sox' clutch gene for the evening. Stints from Aaron Bummer, Gregory Santos (earned the pitching win), Kendall Graveman, and Kenyan Middleton boosted the Sox to double-digit wins on the season.
It was Santos' seventh-inning heroics that helped the Sox keep their lead. In a bases-loaded situation with zero outs, Santos forced two groundouts at home plate and a strikeout to keep the White Sox ahead.
On the offensive end, a 3-run home run from Luis Robert Jr., who has struggled mightily at the plate this season, put the Sox in front first. Then it was an RBI single from Eloy Jiménez that helped break the tie and phenomenal baserunning from Billy Hamilton to give the team an insurance run late in the game.
Collectively, the White Sox have turned on a different gear over the last three games, chalking up their first win streak of the season. With that, they earned their first series win of the season over the AL Central leaders. They have the chance to sweep on Thursday.
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Earlier, before the game, Liam Hendriks spoke to the media for the first time since he announced his cancer diagnosis in January. He summarized his experience with Stage 4 non-Hodgkins lymphoma while informing the media he will begin a rehab stint on Friday.
Most importantly, he mentioned he won't be setting a lower bar for himself on the mound just because he went through the vigors of cancer treatment for five months.
MORE: Liam Hendriks 'doesn't plan on regressing' upon return
"I don't plan on regressing," Hendriks told the media on Wednesday. "That's been my mindset. There's no taking it easy. If I go out there and I give up a hit, I'm still gonna be pissed. If I go out there and walk somebody, I'm still gonna be pissed.
"It's gonna be the same mentality that I have and it's the only way I've been able to do what I've done in the last couple years is by having that mindset."