Twins, healthy or not, have owned White Sox lately

Whether they've been at full strength or banged up, the Twins have had their way with the White Sox since 2008.

Minnesota has gone 39-20 against the Sox over that stretch and they are 4-0 this season and 7-0 dating back to last year.

Already stinging from dropping two of three to the Royals to open their homestand, the White Sox will close out the first half of the season with four games against the Twins beginning Thursday night at U.S. Cellular Field.

Minnesota is still playing without four injured regulars — Justin Morneau, Delmon Young, Jason Kubel and Denard Span — but the Twins figure to give the White Sox all they can handle.

“I'm never surprised by the Twins because they always find somebody in the cave to go out there and play,” Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. “Some guys got hurt and they come out and play better because they play Twins baseball.”

Before you start firing on Guillen for giving Minnesota too much attention again, here is his rebuttal:

“I don't know why people think the Twins are going to be bad,” Guillen said. “I say that and I get criticized, ‘Oh, he loves the Twins.' But (Tigers manager) Jim Leyland just said that, too, and nobody said anything about Jim Leyland saying it.

“Jim Leyland said, ‘Don't forget about the Twins.' But every time I say the Twins are going to be OK, ‘Why don't you manage the Twins? Why do you love the Twins so much?' Well, I know this game.”

After the Sox lost their second straight game to the last-place Royals Wednesday, Guillen said the opponent really doesn't matter.

“The way we play, we can't win a Little League championship,” Guillen said. “You're playing good, it doesn't matter who's coming into town. It could be the (19)27 Yankees. We play good, we're going to compete. We play the way we play right now, it's hard for me to say we're going to do this or that.”

Nice debut:Hector Santiago pitched in his first major-league game Wednesday and the left-handed reliever came through with a perfect inning of relief.#8220;Great,#8221; manager Ozzie Guillen said. #8220;It was the highlight of all the bad things. We found something good. This kid's got some guts. He's not afraid. He's got a good arm. He's a lefty. He has a good chance to be in the big leagues and spend some time here.#8221;Santiago, 23, had his contract purchased from Class AA Birmingham on June 26 after starter John Danks (oblique) went on the disabled list.#8220;It was a lot of nerves,#8221; Santiago said. #8220;I was just happy to get the first pitch over for a strike. It was awesome, very exciting.#8221;Konerko update:Balloting for the Final Vote ends Thursday at 3 p.m., and White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko is still in the lead to make the American League all-star team.#8220;I think Paulie will win,#8221; manager Ozzie Guillen said. #8220;I don't see why not. I think he's a great player and he's having a tremendous first half. He's a very popular player.#8221;