CHICAGO (Interstat) — Davis Martin pitched six strong innings and Randal Grichuk drove in three runs as the Chicago White Sox defeated the Minnesota Twins 6-2 on Thursday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field.

The White Sox scored four runs in the third inning to break open a close game and win their second consecutive game in the four-game series. Chicago improved to 29-27, while Minnesota dropped to 27-30.

Martin, who entered with a 7-1 record, allowed two hits and one earned run while striking out five over six innings. He lowered his ERA and earned his eighth victory, tying a career high for wins in a season. The right-hander, who had won his previous two starts, was sharp from the outset. He retired the side in order in the first, third and fourth innings and faced only one batter over the minimum through four frames.

The Twins scratched out a run in the fifth and another in the seventh but could not overcome the early deficit. Simeon Woods Richardson took the loss, falling to 0-7. He allowed six runs on six hits and three walks over four innings, striking out five.

The White Sox got on the board in the bottom of the first. With one out, Miguel Vargas walked and moved to second on a groundout. Colson Montgomery singled to center field, scoring Vargas and giving Chicago a 1-0 lead.

Chicago broke the game open in the third. Munetaka Murakami led off with a walk. After Miguel Vargas struck out, Montgomery singled to right, putting runners on first and second. Chase Meidroth walked to load the bases. Tristan Peters singled to shortstop, scoring Murakami and keeping the bases loaded. Grichuk then cleared the bases with a double to right field, scoring Montgomery, Meidroth and Peters. The double extended the White Sox lead to 5-0.

Minnesota got one run back in the fifth. Orlando Arcia walked and moved to third on a double by Tristan Gray. Ryan Kreidler grounded out to shortstop, scoring Arcia. The Twins added another run in the seventh. Josh Bell hit a ground-rule double to right and advanced to third on a flyout. Victor Caratini lifted a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Bell and cutting the deficit to 6-2.

The White Sox answered in the fourth. Sam Antonacci singled to center, and Murakami hit a double to shortstop, scoring Antonacci and pushing the lead to 6-0. That was the final run of the game.

Chicago used three relievers to close it out. Tyler Davis pitched a scoreless seventh, striking out two. Grant Taylor worked the eighth, allowing one hit and striking out one. Davis Martin was credited with the win after his efficient outing. He threw 84 pitches, 57 for strikes. Martin’s performance marked his third straight quality start, having allowed one earned run over six innings in each of those outings.

For Minnesota, the bullpen kept the game close after Woods Richardson departed. Andrew Morris pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out three. Yoendrys Gómez struck out two in a perfect eighth. Taylor Rogers and Anthony Banda each tossed a scoreless inning. Travis Adams struck out one in a hitless ninth.

The Twins had only five hits in the game. Tristan Gray doubled and singled, scoring one run. Byron Buxton singled in the eighth and walked once. Josh Bell doubled and scored. Victor Caratini singled and drove in a run. The White Sox had eight hits. Tristan Peters went 3 for 4 with a double and an RBI. Colson Montgomery had two hits and an RBI. Grichuk’s double was his fifth of the season.

The game was played in 2 hours, 27 minutes in front of an announced crowd of 14,194.

The win gave Chicago a split of the first two games of the series after Minnesota won 5-3 on Tuesday. The Twins were coming off a 15-2 loss Wednesday, the largest margin of defeat in the series so far. The White Sox had lost three of their previous four games before Thursday.

Minnesota will travel to Pittsburgh to face the Pirates on Friday. Chicago will host the Detroit Tigers on Friday in the opener of a three-game set.

The game’s most important sequence came in the third inning, when the White Sox turned a one-run lead into a five-run advantage with four runs on two hits. The inning began with a walk and a single, followed by a walk to load the bases. Peters’ ground-ball single and Grichuk’s bases-clearing double effectively decided the outcome, as the Twins offense managed only two runs the rest of the way.

Davis Martin’s dominance after the early lead allowed the White Sox to coast. He retired nine of the final 10 batters he faced, including four strikeouts.

The Twins will look to salvage a split in the series finale before departing for Pittsburgh.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Minnesota 6, Chicago 5, and its ELO system gave the Twins a 50.90 percent probability to win. Minnesota was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total of eight runs went under the over-under line of 7.5.