MINNEAPOLIS -- Monday’s off-day seemingly could not have come at a better time for the White Sox.

Byron Buxton’s three-run walk-off homer against closer Liam Hendriks gave Minnesota a 6-4 victory in 10 innings on Sunday afternoon at Target Field and sent the South Siders to their first seven-game losing streak since Aug. 27 to Sept. 2, 2019. They also finished 0-6 on this American League Central road trip to Cleveland and Minneapolis, dropping the prohibitive preseason division favorite to 6-9 overall.

So, the best thing this group can do is reset and reboot, as opposed to moving into some level of panic.

“It’s a good time for everyone to get away and clear their heads a little bit,” White Sox starter Lucas Giolito said. “And when we return, we just focus on each facet of the game.

“All the little things, making sure we’re taking care of that. And just let our talent shine on the field. I think that just a few situations the last week have gotten to us pretty bad, so just reset tomorrow and get back at it.”

Giolito was activated from the injured list prior to the series finale and took the mound for the first time since Opening Day. It was a ramp up, per the right-hander, but his fourth and final inning was the best he has felt all season. Giolito struck out nine against four hits and three walks allowed, giving way to Tanner Banks after reaching a pitch count of 76.

But it was late-inning theatrics providing the White Sox uplifting moments and gut punches alike.

Danny Mendick’s solo home run in the seventh gave the White Sox a 3-1 lead, but reliever Aaron Bummer walked No. 9 hitter José Godoy to open the bottom half of the frame. Buxton followed with an opposite-field game-tying shot on a 3-2 sinker.

Yasmani Grandal’s two-out single off the right-field wall gave the White Sox a 4-3 lead in the top of the 10th, and Hendriks went back out to try and finish the victory after stranding runners at first and second in the ninth by striking out Nick Gordon. Manager Tony La Russa said there was back stiffness experienced by Hendriks, who was getting treatment postgame, but he was good to go.

Godoy once again drew a one-out walk with Gordon on second as the runner to start the 10th. They both moved up on Hendriks’ wild pitch, leaving first base open for Buxton with Luis Arraez on-deck. The White Sox elected to pitch to Buxton, and he connected on a 96.1 mph four-seamer on a 3-1 count to complete the series sweep.

La Russa spoke postgame about the options involving Buxton in that situation.

“Yeah, there’s an option. Pitch him tough. But the guy on deck is hitting .300 and he feasts on fastballs,” La Russa said. “You give a pitcher a chance to make a pitch. He tried to bounce a curveball, created second and third.

“Any time you load the bases, you better have a significant advantage with the guy on deck, because you’re playing right into his hands and the guy on deck is a tough out. We had a better chance to do what Gio did to him [struck him out] the first couple times up.”

The return of Giolito was unfortunately dampened by left fielder Eloy Jiménez being sidelined for an estimated 6-to-8 weeks with a right hamstring strain he suffered on Saturday. It’s another obstacle to overcome for the White Sox in the midst of a miserable week of baseball.

“At the end of the season, we’re going to have more than nine losses,” Giolito said. “It’s unfortunate to take some in a stretch like this, but I just think with the group we have, we just come together and go play good baseball next week and set the tone there and keep building.”

Tim Anderson set the tone on Sunday with a homer on Chris Archer’s first pitch of the game. After the loss, he gave a one-word reply of “yes” when asked if Monday’s off-day was important. He also spoke a bit about staying positive as a group.

“Nothing's really playing our way. Nobody is going to really give us anything,” Anderson said. “We've just got to keep competing. It's still early. We've got a whole season. It's still early. We'll take our punches now. Just keep chipping away. That's all we can do, honestly."

“I mean, the losses are significant and they’re tough to take,” La Russa added. “But this is the first month of a season so it’s important to figure out what they did, what we didn’t do and next time we face them make an adjustment, but get ready for Kansas City [on Tuesday].”