8-game winning streak is Twins' longest since 2011 season

CHICAGO -- It would perhaps have been a little too on-the-nose if the German-born Max Kepler had tapped into the powers of the Twins’ rally sausage before he played hero on Monday night, so perhaps it was for the better that he couldn’t find it before his ninth-inning at-bat.

“Usually, it’s right there by the bats, but the game moves fast these days, so I didn’t have time to find it,” Kepler said.

The offense-boosting powers of the sausage didn’t play into Kepler’s knock, and it didn’t work its magic as overtly in a low-scoring battle -- but it was simply a different path to a familiar result, as Kepler’s go-ahead, RBI single in the ninth carried the newly fortified Twins to a 3-2 victory over the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field, extending their winning streak to eight games.

With the four wins in a row against the White Sox at Target Field last week, the three over the Angels in Anaheim over the weekend and Monday night’s triumph, the Twins’ eight-game winning streak is their longest since June 11-21, 2011, when they also won eight in a row.

It also means the Twins have yet to lose since Kepler was reinstated from the injured list last Monday.

“Obviously, before the IL stint, he wasn't feeling himself, so to come off and do the things that he's doing, it's nothing new,” said Byron Buxton, who scored the go-ahead run. “It's just him getting back to being comfortable and getting back to being himself.”

The Twins got a fourth homer in five games from Carlos Santana to keep pace with the White Sox in the early innings, and in crunch time, they found the key hit from Kepler, who lined a fastball to right field off reliever John Brebbia to score Buxton, who had doubled to lead off the ninth inning.

Kepler has reached safely in six of his seven appearances since his recovery from the right knee contusion he sustained on a foul off his leg on Opening Day, going 9-for-21 (.429) amid this winning streak in the last week.

Turns out, there had been a piece of bone floating around in Kepler’s knee as he got off to a 1-for-20 start this season -- not stemming from that injury, but from a previous one. The way he described it, that spooked him enough to decide to take a rehab assignment this time as he worked his way back to the Majors, which he hadn’t done in the past.

It’s made a world of difference.

“I came back [without one last year], and it was kind of a shock at first trying to adjust to big league pitching,” Kepler said. “I just wanted to get my footing under me.”

The Twins don’t necessarily know what gets Kepler into this kind of form at the plate, when he’s making solid line-drive contact to his pull side while still using more of the field, but it seems the time off for the injury after playing through the bruise for four games certainly did him good in that regard -- and it’s showing.

“He looks recharged, strong, like he did the whole second half last year,” manager Rocco Baldelli said.

Kepler and the rest of the Twins’ lineup has caught up over the last week to give the team more well-rounded production behind Ryan Jeffers, who has essentially been the club’s only hitter to have consistently produced from Opening Day onward.

Carlos Correa’s return from the IL on Monday continued to lengthen the lineup, which could prove particularly important on nights like this, when offense was tougher to come by against a pitcher like White Sox starter Garrett Crochet, who retired the final 11 Twins he faced after the Twins got Santana’s big swing in the second inning.

“We're having different guys come through in different spots, different innings,” Baldelli said. “When you have to work for something and you get the reward, and it doesn't come easily, you feel good. I think everyone's feeling satisfied with the way we played and were able to pull it out on a day that not everything was clicking, not everything was smooth.”

It’s been relatively smooth sailing for Kepler now that he’s confident in his knee, though, and he showed that with go-ahead RBI knocks in each of his first two games off the IL last week -- with seemingly no signs of slowing down yet.

“I feel healthy,” Kepler said. “When I’m healthy, baseball is fun.”