MINNEAPOLIS -- When catcher Christian Vázquez joined the Twins, the team wasn’t expecting him to match his career high of 23 home runs, but they thought they were getting a player who could handle the bat and come up with big hits when the team needed them the most.

After a frustrating first half of the season, Vázquez made some adjustments to his swing, and as a result, he’s been producing more like the hitter the Twins had in mind when they signed him.

On Saturday night, Vázquez hit a pair of doubles, scored a run and drove in another as the Twins rallied for a 3-2 victory over the White Sox at Target Field.

A career .261 hitter coming into the season, Vázquez entered Saturday’s game with a .210 batting average this season. But he ended the night with two of the Twins’ biggest hits as Minnesota won for the seventh time in its past nine games.

“It’s time to help the team on both sides, with my defense and hitting,” said Vázquez, who tied the game with a double in the seventh that set up Michael A. Taylor’s game-winning RBI single.

“I made some changes after the All-Star break, and it felt good. I’m hitting the ball hard,” he said. “I got a new leg kick, timing the pitcher with a leg kick so that feels good -- it feels great.”

The Twins’ catcher led off the bottom of the third inning with a booming double to center off White Sox starter Dylan Cease. He came around to score on Carlos Correa’s double one out later, cutting Chicago’s lead to 2-1.

But the game’s biggest moment came in the seventh. Byron Buxton drew a one-out walk off reliever Keynan Middleton. He then stole second, but he had to stay there as Kyle Farmer’s slow grounder to third base turned into an infield single.

Gregory Santos came on to try to end the threat, but Vázquez hit his first pitch high and deep to left field, where it caromed off the top of the padded fence. A review confirmed it was not a home run, but Buxton scrambled home, and Farmer reached third, setting the stage for Taylor’s go-ahead single.

“In that situation, they need a ground-ball double play, and he had a good sinker, hard sinker, so I was looking for that sinker middle-in to drive it into the air,” said Vázquez, who’s 5-for-17 with two doubles and a homer since the All-Star break.

He also made a huge contribution on defense to keep the White Sox off the scoreboard in the eighth inning. With Luis Robert Jr. on second base and nobody out, Griffin Jax spiked a sweeper that Vázquez smothered, keeping Robert at second. That block proved to be pivotal when the White Sox ended up stranding two runners in scoring position to keep the Twins on top, 3-2.

It was the type of play Twins pitchers have come to expect from Vázquez, a play that gives them confidence to continue to challenge hitters with their best stuff even with runners on base.

“I'm telling myself that in my head, it's OK if I miss in the ground because I know he's going to block it,” Jax said. “It gives me a lot more conviction throwing that pitch in that spot."

Vázquez, to his credit, took it in stride after the game.

“They pay me for that!” he said with a laugh. “That’s my job, you know, to help the pitching staff in everything -- blocking, calling games, receiving, all the things.”

Manager Rocco Baldelli noted that while he’s always had confidence in Vázquez’s defense, he likes what he’s been seeing on offense lately as well.

“He’s driving the ball the other way, he’s turning on balls that are sinking in on his hands. He’s getting the barrel to some different spots right now. And there’s some snap in the bat,” Baldelli said. “It’s huge when he steps up there and he’s banging the ball all around the park like he was today.”