CHICAGO — Brooks Lee is just days into his major league career, but the early returns have shown just how ready, just how polished the infielder is.

Lee has a hit in each of his first six games and in four of those six, he has at least two.

His second hit on Monday came at the best possible time for the Twins, driving in Max Kepler to break open a tied game. The Twins and Chicago White Sox had gone back-and-forth all night, but Lee’s 11th-inning single finally gave the Twins the lead for good in their 8-6 extra-inning win in the series opener at Guaranteed Rate Field.

The switch hitter lined a single to center to put the Twins on top. The next batter, Manuel Margot, grounded out to first, allowing Byron Buxton to race home and give the Twins a cushion.

The Twins got contributions from their veterans — Buxton had three hits and scored two runs and Carlos Correa hit a home run — and their youngsters in the win.

Chicago White Sox’s Nicky Lopez, right, and Minnesota Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers, left, watch Lopez’s RBI double off Twins relief pitcher Griffin Jax during the eighth inning of a baseball game Monday, July 8, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Lee drove in Buxton with his first hit of the game and came home to score as Matt Wallner, recently called up from Triple-A, lasered a pitch at 116.7 miles per hour, tying the game up at the time after the Twins had fallen behind by three runs a half inning earlier.

Every Twins starter had at least one hit  — Jose Miranda, the hottest hitter on the planet currently, was one of five Twins with at least two — as the offense continued its assault on opposing pitchers.

In the Twins’ last five games, they have now scored 44 runs. In four of those games, they’ve scored at least eight runs.

But while the Twins’ offense was on the attack all night, beginning with Trevor Larnach’s home run in the first inning, the White Sox simply would not go away.

After the Twins took leads in both the first and fourth innings, the White Sox rallied to tie the game.

Starter Chris Paddack, back after a stay on the 15-day injured list for shoulder fatigue, gave up two runs in his five innings, surrendering just three hits.

But the White Sox surged ahead after his departure, rallying for three runs in the sixth inning and then tying the game up in the sixth. In the end, though, they couldn’t keep pace with the Twins’ relentless, well-balanced offensive output.

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