CHICAGO -- It’s too early to call Sunday’s win over the White Sox a “must-win” game, but it's not too early to say the Twins have a higher sense of urgency.

Minnesota continued to beat the teams it needs to in an 11-1 rout over the White Sox in Sunday’s series finale at Guaranteed Rate Field.

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"You know, we did good against the Yankees. We did good here. Sometimes we've struggled, sometimes not, but that's part of the game,” first baseman Miguel Sanó said. “Here, we played nice. We got a great lineup, good pitchers and a couple of pitchers coming, and we feel good."

Sunday’s victory gave the Twins their first series victory since the All-Star break and as their lead in the American League Central -- which was as large as 10 games at one point -- has evaporated to just two games, it seems like the right time for Minnesota to turn it on.

Because his team is considered one of the elite teams in the American League, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli feels his club has what it takes to take its game to the next level despite a tight division race.

“Our guys have showed us stuff at different points of the year -- I don't know the right way to say it -- but an explosive type of team that can do things in a hurry at times,” Baldelli said. “But it doesn't just happen, it happens through all those simple things that we talk about: the good at-bats, swinging at good pitches and things.

“We have a team that we are confident in our abilities, and I think we have a good group. As long as we can believe in ourselves and continue to grow, I think we are going to be fine."

The Twins' offense has taken them to another level in recent weeks and continued a historic power surge. Minnesota has 34 homers in its last 13 games and 15 games this season with four or more. On Sunday, the Twins benefitted from round-trippers from Jorge Polanco, Jonathan Schoop, Max Kepler and Sano.

They set the Major League record with nine games of five or more homers in a game on July 26.

But while Minnesota’s offensive prowess has carried over from the series against the Yankees, the Twins' pitching has taken a step forward as well. Kyle Gibson struck out nine White Sox in Sunday's win and allowed one run over six innings en route to his 10th win.

The Twins' starting pitching performed well after allowing 30 total runs vs. New York in the prior series as Gibson, José Berríos, Michael Pineda and Martin Pérez turned in four consecutive quality starts to go a combined 3-1 with a 2.77 ERA in the four-game series against the White Sox.

While the Twins could very well be shoppers for additional starting pitching with the Trade Deadline just three days away, an addition doesn’t mean anything if the other 24 guys aren’t playing well.

“We see about as much on TV as you guys see, really. I mean, we see everything on MLB Trade Rumors, and you just don’t know what is true and what isn’t. But for us, it’s just about trying to stay focused,” Gibson said. “The trade deadline isn’t going to do us any good if we don’t take care of business against the White Sox and don’t take care of business against the Marlins [in the upcoming series].”