Chicago, IL (My Sportsbook) - Torii Hunter and Corey Koskie each belted two- run homers in the first inning, as the Minnesota Twins handled the Chicago White Sox, 8-2, in the opener of a three-game set at U.S. Cellular Field.

With the victory, the Twins clinched their third consecutive AL Central title, the first time they have done that in club history. The final out came when Juan Rincon got Timo Perez on a pop up to shortstop Cristian Guzman.

"They're all great," said Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire, talking about the three titles. "It means everything in the world."

"We're the underdogs, and we've got something to prove every day, added Hunter. "That's our motivation, to go out there and prove people wrong."

Carlos Silva (13-8) picked up the mound win, yielding two runs on seven hits in seven innings. The righty walked one and did not strike out a batter, as the Twins won for the 11th time in their last 13 contests.

Minnesota hit four home runs on the night, and had five different players contribute multiple hits.

Most of the damage came against Chicago starter and loser Mark Buehrle (14-10). He dropped his second game to the Twins in six days, this time getting blasted for seven runs on 10 hits in eight innings of work. Buehrle walked three and fanned three.

Ross Gload and Jose Valentin chipped in two hits apiece for the White Sox, who lost for the sixth time in eight outings.

The Twins got all the runs they would need in the top of the first inning. Shannon Stewart led off with a walk, and was erased when Lew Ford hit into a fielder's choice. Hunter followed with his 21st home run of the year for a 2-0 lead.

With two outs, Michael Cuddyer singled ahead of Koskie's 21st homer of the season, increasing the advantage to four runs.

Minnesota added to its edge with single runs in the fourth and fifth. Henry Blanco took advantage of the long ball again for the Twins in the fourth, a solo shot for his 10th.

In the fifth, Koskie scored Ford with a ground out.

The Sox finally got on the scoreboard in their half of the seventh on Valentin's 27th homer, a two-run shot. Gload opened the frame with a single the at-bat prior.

The Twins tacked on two more runs in the ninth to cap the scoring, though they could have had more. Luis Rivas led off with Minnesota's fourth home run of the evening, as well as his 10th of the year for a 7-2 lead. Later in the inning, Chicago reliever Jeff Bajenaru issued a bases-loaded walk to Cuddyer. He then stranded three Twins on the basepaths by fanning Koskie.