ST. PETERSBURG -- The Twins have been running low on star power as they await the end of Carlos Correa’s drawn-out plantar fasciitis saga and seek further updates on Byron Buxton’s most recent hip setback.

But every fifth game still brings Pablo Day -- and boy, do they need this version of staff ace Pablo López more than ever.

Not only has López left the struggles of his first half behind him, but he’s now dominating with some of the best raw stuff of his seven-year career. His fastball velocity once again soared to unseen heights and his sweeper looked as good as it has all season as López held the Rays to three runs over 6 2/3 innings, pitching the Twins to a 4-3 win on Thursday at Tropicana Field.

“His stuff right now is sharp as it’s been,” bench coach Jayce Tingler said. “It’s this time of the year and this is the most electric we’ve seen him. That’s super encouraging going down the stretch.”

The split of the four-game series helped the Twins gain a half-game on the idle Guardians and sneak ahead of the Royals for sole possession of second place in the AL Central, closing the gap to a four-game deficit in the division.

López’s scoreless streak came to an end at 23 1/3 innings -- the longest single-season streak by a Twin since Tyler Duffey in 2019 -- and his outing might have been cut short by a nearly 10-minute replay review in the seventh inning. Still, he helped an Edouard Julien three-run blast and Matt Wallner solo shot stand as enough offense.

And somehow, as a grueling season nears its end, López is stronger than ever -- especially in his continued recovery from a rough first half in which his stuff was way down at times and he pitched to a 5.11 ERA by the All-Star break.

“I think early on in the year, there were panic level meters going off everywhere [outside], and I think in here, the panic level was so low for him just because of the pure worker he is,” catcher Ryan Jeffers said. “I think we knew this was coming. He’s our ace. He’s been our ace. He’s one of the top pitchers in all of baseball and he’s showing that now.”

López had never thrown a pitch at 98 mph in his career entering Thursday -- but he threw three of them in this game alone, topping out at 98.6 mph. His sweeper, an inconsistent pitch for much of the year, generated a 70% whiff rate, his second-highest mark of the season.

For that, he credits additional attention to the biomechanics of his delivery in his post-start reviews, the extra day of rest he gets between starts to be able to focus his between-games bullpen sessions and everything from the Twins’ nutritionists to their sleep doctors in helping him maximize his body and get his season back on track.

“It's definitely a wonderful feeling to see how the stuff is this late into the season, like you said, later into my career,” López said. “We have all those resources, and the least we can do is to ask questions, see what many ways to get better are out there and try them.”

Though López wasn’t perfect -- he allowed a two-run, bases-loaded single to Junior Caminero in the third inning and an RBI double to Yandy Díaz in the seventh -- his effective, lengthy outing is exactly what these injury-ridden Twins needed as he pitched the club to victory for the fourth time in his last five outings.

They’ve really needed those efforts, too. Playing without Correa and Buxton -- and now, Max Kepler -- the Twins had lost four in a row ahead of López’s previous outing, when he threw 7 2/3 scoreless innings against the Blue Jays to stop the skid.

Before that, they had dropped four of five leading into a matchup against the Cardinals -- and then, too, López had stepped up to throw seven scoreless frames.

His team needs him now -- and the ace has answered the call.

“The team picked me up plenty of times in the first half when I wasn't at my best or my sharpest,” López said. “It's one of those things that you have to take it personal. We were down in the series, and I knew I had an opportunity to come out here and do it for my guys, do it for my teammates. They keep doing it for me.”