MIAMI -- When the Twins embarked on their current seven-game trip, their division lead had shrunk and their pitching staff had struggled against the American League East-leading Yankees in the midst of Trade Deadline talk.

But then Opening Day starter Jose Berrios set a strong tone in that first road game in Chicago vs. the White Sox, and he continued an emphatic stretch in Wednesday's 7-4 win over the Marlins, tossing a season-high 11 strikeouts over seven scoreless innings at Marlins Park.

Berrios took a perfect game into the fifth before allowing back-to-back singles -- the only two hits he would surrender.

• Box score

“Some of the best stuff I've seen out of him,” said Mitch Garver, who hit his 20th homer to become just the third Twins/Senators backstop to reach that mark. “I've said that a couple of times now already. I think the way he located his fastball on both sides and being able to locate his breaking ball and changeup. We came into this gameplan basically saying, 'throw everything,' because everything matches up well with this team. Throw it in situations you want to, dominate the zone, get it over the plate, and he did all of those things. It was good.”

In front of family and friends -- as well as people from his native Puerto Rico he was sure made the short flight to South Florida -- Berrios used his whole arsenal.

The right-hander didn't showcase his normal velocity, with his four-seam fastball (91.6 mph) and sinker (90.5 mph) slightly below his 2019 averages (93.1 mph and 92.2 mph, respectively), but he stayed down in the zone and effectively mixed his four pitches.

“I felt great with my offspeed pitches,” said Berrios, who recorded five strikeouts with his curveball. “I don’t feel like I had a lot of power, but I feel like [I had] good command with each pitch. I located every pitch during the game, and I executed.”

Since Berrios’ outing against the White Sox last Thursday, in which he snapped a seven-start winless streak, Minnesota’s rotation has given up nine earned runs over 38 2/3 innings (2.09 ERA) with 42 strikeouts and five walks. All but one of those six have been quality starts.

The Twins are 5-1 during that span, extending their lead in the AL Central to three games over the Indians.

With the win, Berrios joined Jake Odorizzi (12) and Kyle Gibson (10) as the third Twins pitcher with double-digit victories, marking the third time Minnesota has had three pitchers with double-digit win totals since 2010. The other seasons? 2017 and ‘10, when the ballclub reached the postseason both years.

“Our rotation has one, put us in position to win games. Two, our guys have eaten up a lot of innings and have also allowed our bullpen to get back to a really good spot where our guys are rested and ready to pitch,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “When you're able to catch up like that, it's really big. The only way to get there is through the really good efforts by the starting pitchers."

Berrios also got it done at the plate, walking ahead of Garver's three-run homer in the third inning.

But that extra energy spent running the bases and building up adrenaline, according to Baldelli, made him decide to pull Berrios after 81 pitches for pinch-hitter Nelson Cruz in the eighth.

“I think everybody felt good,” Baldelli said. “I know I felt good getting him out of the game right there. I think we were in a good spot because of his effort. We've ridden him pretty hard the last couple of starts. He's gone out there and given us innings and thrown a fair amount of pitches. With a game like this, no game is ever in hand. You still have to go out there and finish the game, but we thought it was a good time to get him out there, and we had a good rested bullpen to use.”