MINNEAPOLIS - With long glares darting through the clubhouse, the White Sox attempted to put on the best game face Thursday night. | MLB page

That mask, however, fell off as Minnesota delivered another stunning blow to the Sox's American League Central title hopes.

The Sox blew a five-run lead, as the Twins dealt them another blow with a two-run eighth off relievers Matt Thornton and Bobby Jenks that forced a 6-6 tie before winning, 7-6, in extra innings.

Alexi Casilla's two-out single off Jenks in the 10th won it for the Twins.

The Sox were within five outs of extending their lead to 1½ games before Denard Span hit an RBI triple.

Hours after wondering if his teammates could duplicate the excitement that the Twins enjoyed during the first two games of the series, Orlando Cabrera led the way during their six-run rally in the fourth.

With one out, Cabrera hit a deep drive that barely cleared the left-field fence for a game-tying home run. Jermaine Dye, who was 3-for-28, ripped a single up the middle and moved to third when right fielder Span bumped into Carlos Gomez while trying to catch Jim Thome's deep drive that went for a double.

The Sox rediscovered the art of the clutch hit.

With the bases loaded, Alexei Ramirez hit a slow roller to third that Brian Buscher couldn't handle for an RBI single that gave the Sox the lead.

The Metrodome fans cheered when Kevin Slowey drilled A.J. Pierzynski to reload the bases. But many moaned quickly when Juan Uribe smoked a line drive off Slowey's right wrist.

Slowey retrieved the ball, but his throw wide of first base allowed three runs to score and extended the Sox's lead to 6-1.

But the Sox were mindful that the Twins rallied from four-run deficits to beat them on July 29 and 31, and this game validated that.

The Twins rallied with two runs in the fourth on Gomez's RBI triple and Span's double with two out.

In the fifth, pitching coach Don Cooper visited the mound after Jason Kubel's single brought the tying run to the plate with one out.

But Floyd settled down briefly to strike out Delmon Young and retire Buscher on a fly to right.

The situation, however, became desperate enough for manager Ozzie Guillen to pull Floyd after Casilla hit a single with two out in the sixth to bring formidable Joe Mauer to the plate.

This marked the first time Floyd failed to pitch at least six innings since Aug. 15 at Oakland. But the move paid off. Thornton, pitching for the first time since Sunday, induced Mauer to ground into a force on his first pitch.

The lack of clutch hitting came back to haunt the Sox after the six-run fourth. Ken Griffey Jr. struck out against Dennys Reyes with runners at second and third to end the fifth. Griffey, who took a crooked route on Mauer's double that gave the Twins a 1-0 lead in the first, was pulled in the eighth for defensive purposes.

In the seventh, Cabrera tried to spark the offense again by hitting a single, moving to second on Thome's two-out hit and stealing third base. But Paul Konerko grounded to short.

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