MINNEAPOLIS -- So many times this season, the Twins have simply bludgeoned their way to victory. Saturday was not one of those days -- not that it was a problem.

Though White Sox pitching prevented Minnesota from leaving the yard until the eighth inning, Kyle Gibson pitched a seven-inning gem and the Twins instead took advantage of poor outfield defense and showed off aggressive baserunning to continue to generate runs in an 8-1 win on Saturday, clinching their fourth consecutive series victory.

• Box score

The Twins have a five-game winning streak for the second time this month and have won 10 of their last 11 contests.

“With this type of offense, the starting pitching is probably going to be what really keeps us from getting into a long losing streak, because it's not going to be the offense, I think,” Gibson said. “Rarely are we going to have three or four games in a row where we only score one or two runs. So it's going to be up to the starting pitching to be consistent like that.”

Gibson had struggled late in each of his last two outings, having been plagued by a three-run sixth against the Angels and a three-run fifth against the Mariners in a continuation of his season-long issues the third time through the order.

But he was lights-out until the end on Saturday, collecting four of his nine strikeouts in the sixth and seventh innings as he allowed five hits -- including a solo homer to Jose Abreu -- and only one walk while retiring 12 of the final 14 batters that he faced. His seven innings matched a season high, and he generated 21 swinging strikes, the second-highest mark of his career.

Gibson collected nine whiffs on the slider and picked up five strikeouts with the pitch, but he said after the game that the real key was having a better feel for his changeup, which kept hitters guessing on his offspeed offerings.

“The other day, I really didn’t get that many swings on my changeup, so to be able to get some swings and misses on that pitch ... that probably makes my other breaking pitches more difficult to differentiate and to have to decide between the two,” Gibson said.

The only chance for the big inning to strike Gibson again was in the first, when he hit Leury Garcia to begin the game and allowed a single to Yoan Moncada, but a diving catch in right field by Marwin Gonzalez punctuated a scoreless escape that set the tone of the remainder of Gibson’s outing and elicited a shout as he walked off the mound.

“It's something that more and more emotions have been shown in the game,” Gibson said. “Any time you can put up a zero in the first at home when you have this type of offense, every zero you put up is going to be really important and keep the pressure off them. And you want your offense, when it's swinging like this, to feel no pressure and just really to go out there and erupt.”

Twins offense doesn’t need homers to win
Before Ehire Adrianza’s three-run shot in the eighth off Kelvin Herrera finally accounted for the Twins’ MLB-leading 102nd long ball of the season, they had to make do on offense by taking what the White Sox defense gave them.

Fortunately for the Twins, that was a lot.

After a pair of walks put Jonathan Schoop and Eddie Rosario on base in the first inning, Chicago right fielder Charlie Tilson failed to settle under a high popup to right field, which fell in for a two-run double for C.J. Cron. Later, in the fourth, Cron drove in two more with a single and moved to second after Eloy Jimenez missed the cutoff man, allowing him to score on Adrianza’s single three batters later.

"Taking advantage of a few of their mistakes with that fly ball in right, and Rosie kind of snuck one in there, too, to kind of get the rally started, it's nice to be able to win in different ways,” Cron said. “The common denominator in all of this is that our pitching has been doing unbelievable. We just score enough runs for them, and it's been really fun to watch."

Cron’s single in the fourth, which gave him a four-RBI day, was yet another good example of the Twins going with what pitchers have offered and not sacrificing their hitting ability in the pursuit of homers this season. After going down in the count 0-2, he fouled off three pitches and punched a changeup through the infield to bring the runners home.

“He went up there and decided he was not going to swing and miss, and may have shortened up a little bit and fought off some tough pitches, and then poked that ball through the hole and brought in two runs,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Sometimes, that's what it takes when your ‘A’ swing isn't matching up what you want to do and you're battling with two strikes. Putting the ball in play right there is giving us a chance.”

A stat that mattered
39,139: The attendance at Target Field on Saturday. It was the second sellout of the season, and the first non-Opening Day sellout in Minneapolis since Aug. 29, 2015.

“That type of atmosphere shows up to the park like this and ... when we take a 2-0 lead in the second or third, whenever it was, and the Twins fans erupt like that when we score the first runs, it’s almost like they can feel the offense building, and that builds a lot of fun atmosphere to play in,” Gibson said.