MINNEAPOLIS -- A struggling starter and lack of clutch hitting was too much for the White Sox to overcome Saturday.

Lance Lynn allowed three home runs and six earned runs in five innings and the White Sox took a 6-3 defeat against Minnesota on Saturday afternoon, their first loss in five games to fall four games behind the Twins in the AL Central.

Still, chins remain up with the possibility of taking three of four in the series.

“Now that today's over, tomorrow's the most important game that we've got,” said Andrew Vaughn, who had two hits.

After a 1-2-3 top of the first, it took one batter for the Twins to take charge.

All-Star Luis Arraez hammered the fourth pitch from Lynn to the second deck in right field to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead.

It was another rough opening frame for the right hander: Allowing just the one run actually lowered Lynn's first-inning ERA from 12.00 to 11.57. He gave up five first-inning runs Monday in Cleveland en route to eight earned runs in four innings.

So how does he regroup?

“You worry about the last hitter or last outing, and the next one will jump you and be in a last spot,” Lynn said.

Carlos Correa crushed a two-run shot with one out in the third, then Byron Buxton had a bloop single and Max Kepler had a check-swing single before Jorge Polanco went deep for a three-run round-tripper to make it 6-0.

“It’s frustrating,” Lynn said. “You look at the third where you give up five. But you look at your day today, you’re giving up six runs on three balls, so you have to keep them in the ballpark and make better pitches.”

Lynn was ace-like last season, going 11-6 with a 2.69 ERA and finishing third in the America League Cy Young Award voting. However, he tore a tendon in his right knee on April 2 and missed more than two months.

“Trying to play catch-up when you’re recovering, it’s not fun but I have the stuff to do it. I just have to make pitches and get outs,” he said.

He allowed three earned runs in each of his first two starts on June 13 and 20, but has allowed at least five earned runs in four of five since. His ERA sits at 7.50.

Manager Tony La Russa isn’t overly concerned yet. “That’s one of the strengths of our club, the five guys that go out there," he said. "So he’s one of them.”

The All-Star break comes at an ideal time for Lynn (1-3).

“A deep breath of, 'Hey, all right, the first half is done. You got back, you’re here, you’re healthy and it’s time to go get it,'" he said. "To be honest, there’s no other way to say it. That’s where I’m at. I got to use this time to get things right. We’ve worked on some mechanical things. Physically I’m in a good spot to do the things I need to do. Now it’s finding that rhythm and going out and doing it.”

Lynn finished strong, retiring the side in order in the fourth and fifth innings and striking out Buxton and Kepler to end the fifth.

Tanner Banks, Matt Foster, José Ruiz and Jimmy Lambert combined for three innings of scoreless relief. The White Sox bullpen has allowed one run while striking out 29 in 26 2/3 innings over the past nine games.

Yoán Moncada had three hits for the White Sox, while Adam Engel had two. But the Sox couldn't muster much on offense early: On a hot and humid afternoon, they sent just three men to the plate against Dylan Bundy (6-4) in four of the first five innings. Moncada singled and Vaughn doubled in the fourth, with Moncada scoring on a José Abreu groundout.

The chances didn’t end there.

Vaughn had a two-run single in the sixth, but Chicago left runners on the corners when Kepler, the right fielder, made a two-out sliding catch of a liner from AJ Pollock.

Kepler caught an Anderson ball at the wall with two outs in the seventh to prevent another Chicago run, and the White Sox failed to score with two men on and one out in the eighth.

Anderson grounded out on a 10-pitch at-bat for the final out.

“I heard Tony say when Tim was up there, 'That's an All-Star at-bat,'" Vaughn said. "He's fouling off pitches. Guy is throwing 100 mph with a 98 mph splitter. He was just battling. It was good to see."