(My Sportsbook) -- After exacting a measure of revenge with a lopsided victory of the Chicago White Sox on Friday, the Minnesota Twins will be aiming to take down their American League Central rivals for a second straight time when the two teams square off again this afternoon at U.S. Cellular Field.

In the first meeting between the clubs since Chicago edged the Twins in a one- game playoff to decide the AL Central champion last September, Minnesota made a statement with the bats in Friday's opener of this three-game early-season series. The Twins banged out 15 hits and broke open a close contest with a seven-run uprising in the seventh inning en route to a 12-5 triumph.

Justin Morneau went 2-for-4 with a homer and four RBI to lead Minnesota's offensive outburst, with Denard Span, Delmon Young and Nick Punto each knocking in a pair of runs for the victors. Span and Alexi Casilla each finished with three hits for Minnesota, which also received a solo home run from ex-White Sox Joe Crede.

Crede, who spent his first nine major league season with the White Sox and was an integral part of the team's run to a World Series title in 2005, signed a one-year, $1 million free-agent contract with the Twins over the winter after Chicago elected not to retain the oft-injured third baseman.

R.A. Dickey pitched five effective innings to earn the win in Friday's game, with the journeyman allowing three runs on four hits and striking out four.

Jose Contreras, making his first start for Chicago since last August, took the loss after giving up four runs on seven hits in five innings of work. The veteran righty missed the final two months of last season due to a ruptured Achilles tendon.

Carlos Quentin belted a two-run homer and Paul Konerko went 2-for-4 with a solo shot for the White Sox, who have now lost three of their first games of the season. Josh Fields, Crede's replacement at third base, had a two-run single in a losing cause.

Konerko's homer was the 299th of his career.

The Twins, who lost eight of 10 games played against the Sox in Chicago last season, will shoot for a series win today behind Francisco Liriano, who will be aiming to improve off a so-so outing on Opening Day. The talented southpaw allowed just four hits in seven innings of work Monday against Seattle, but two of them were home runs which put him on the losing end of a 6-1 decision to the Mariners. Liriano surrendered four runs on the evening, but did not walk a batter and struck out three.

Liriano showed flashes of the form which helped him win 12 of 15 decisions and record an excellent 2.16 earned run average in 121 innings as a rookie in 2006. He was forced to miss the entire next season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, but rebounded to go 6-4 with a 3.91 ERA in 14 starts last year.

The 25-year-old will be facing the White Sox for the first time since May 13, 2006. He tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings as a reliever in that game and is 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA over three overall appearances, one of which was a start, versus Chicago.

The White Sox will hand the ball to former AL Cy Young Award winner Bartolo Colon, with the veteran set to make his first start of the season. Chicago signed the 35-year-old to a one-year contract in January after he went 4-2 with a 3.92 ERA in seven starts during a comeback stint with Boston in 2008.

Colon will be starting his second stint with the White Sox, having won 15 games for the club during the 2003 season. He left Chicago for Anaheim via free agency the following year and was named the AL's top pitcher with the Angels in 2005, but a series of arm problems have limited him to just 35 starts over the past three seasons.

The native Dominican is 8-7 with a 4.33 ERA in 21 lifetime meetings (20 starts) with the Twins, but hasn't pitched against Minnesota since 2005.

Minnesota, which won 10 of 19 overall meetings against the White Sox last season, last won a series in Chicago from August 25-27, 2006, when the club took two out of three games.