Twins 4, White Sox 2: Joe Mauer doubled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as Minnesota outlasted visiting Chicago in a rainy series opener.

The Twins broke open a tie game in the eighth against right-hander Jake Petricka (0-2), who surrendered back-to-back singles leading off the inning before Mauer drove a 3-2 pitch into left to score Danny Santana. Kurt Suzuki added a sacrifice fly later in the frame to make it a two-run gap.

Casey Fien (4-4) picked up the win with a perfect eighth inning and Glen Perkins, who was unavailable due to back stiffness Wednesday, came on in the ninth and worked around a one-out single to secure his 18th save. Josh Willingham added a solo home run for Minnesota and Conor Gillaspie drove in both runs for the White Sox.

Willingham snapped a scoreless draw with a leadoff home run in the third inning to give Minnesota a quick lead before Gillaspie put Chicago on top by sending a bases-loaded, two-run single into center in the bottom of the frame. Santana reached with a double in the third and scored the tying run when Mauer pushed a two-out single to left.

Yohan Pino made his major-league debut after a decade in the minors and struck out seven in as many innings while allowing two runs and five hits for the Twins. White Sox starter Jose Quintana matched Pino with seven solid frames, yielding two runs and six hits.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The game was delayed 2 hours, 6 minutes at the start due to rain. … Chicago C Tyler Flowers, who went 0-for-3, is 1-for-30 over his last 10 games. … Santana, 2B Brian Dozier and Mauer combined to go 6-for-11 from the top three spots in the Minnesota lineup.