CHICAGO -- The focus for the White Sox wasn’t so much on their 5-1 loss to the Twins Sunday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field, preventing them from moving into a second place tie with the Twins and possibly one game out of first behind the Guardians in the American League Central.

It was centered upon the week that transpired, a weird stretch beginning Tuesday with manager Tony La Russa sidelined indefinitely due to health issues, but was followed by four straight wins over the Royals and Twins. The White Sox are back at .500 with a 67-67 record, but after gaining four games in four days, they also are back in contention for the division title.

They now shift their attention west for a three-game series in Seattle and a four-game set in Oakland.

“Yeah, it’s been fantastic. Everyone playing for the team, playing for each other,” said White Sox starting pitcher Lucas Giolito, who suffered the loss Sunday. “If one guy doesn’t get the job done, the next guy steps up and we have full confidence he’ll get the job done. So, just having that mentality coming together as a team. If we keep that up, we’ll put ourselves in a good position.”

“We play the way we played this week, watch out,” said White Sox acting manager Miguel Cairo, whose team fell to 6-7 vs. Minnesota this year. “We’re going to have a pretty good chance, and the guys are excited about going out there. But it was a good game today. We battled back. We gave it our best and fell short.”

Giolito (10-9) allowed two runs on six hits over five innings, striking out five and walking two. The right-hander lamented falling behind too often, too many heavy counts and even too many Minnesota foul balls, driving his pitch count to 95.

There also was one poor pitch hit out by Carlos Correa in the fifth, following a walk to Gilberto Celestino. Giolito lowered his ERA to 5.21, but as he mentioned recently in an interview with MLB.com, his focus is doing the best he can for the team in every start with no personal accolades on his mind.

“He pitched well. He gave us five good innings,” Cairo said. “Just one pitch that Correa put a good swing on. But he kept us in the game, he gave us a chance to win. He gave it his all. He pitched very good today. It’s good to see him pitching that way. Everyone, all the pitchers.”

Minnesota starter Dylan Bundy threw five two-hit innings on just 66 pitches before Twins manager Rocco Baldelli pulled him. The White Sox had a chance to tie the game in the seventh with runners on first and third and one out, when Leury Garcia put down a safety squeeze after swinging through the first pitch.

Reliever Jhoan Duran, who had replaced Michael Fulmer, made a nice play on the bunt and nailed pinch-runner Adam Haseley at the plate, then followed with a strikeout of Romy Gonzalez. Minnesota (68-64) added on from there.

“We came here and to lose the first two, it puts a little pressure on you,” Bundy said. “But everyone in that clubhouse wants that pressure and expects it. It was just huge as a team getting that win, getting the last one from them and not letting things get too far out of hand.”

Seeds of this White Sox homestand turnaround came from a players-only meeting prior to Thursday's series finale against the Royals. It was a meeting where everyone was able to get on the same page for the final stretch in an attempt to turn a disappointing season into a playoff appearance and say whatever was on their mind.

What followed was a walk-off win Friday and a near no-hitter Saturday night for Dylan Cease, with the Cy Young candidate coming within one out of making history. A sweep would have built up that momentum even further, but the White Sox don’t believe one loss can change this good feeling.

“Coming together and playing hard, playing focused baseball; when we do that, it brings up the energy,” Giolito said. “It brings up the confidence in all situations. Whether we're down, up, doesn't matter, tied. Giving it our best effort for nine innings, every single day.

“That's what I've been seeing, that's what we've been feeling. If we stay on that track, we'll be in a good spot. Just keep winning. Try and win."