Andrew Benintendi powers first-place White Sox past Twins as his bat, experience come in clutch

MINNEAPOLIS — Designated hitter Andrew Benintendi hasn’t skipped a beat since returning to the White Sox’ batting order this weekend against the Twins after a stay on the bereavement list.

He went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI in their 7-4 victory in the series opener Friday, then provided all the offense with an RBI single, a solo home run and a double — accounting for all three of the Sox’ hits — and scoring the go-ahead run on an error in their 3-2 triumph Saturday.

‘‘I’m seeing it pretty well,’’ said Benintendi, who’s enjoying his first summer of competitive baseball since arriving on the South Side. ‘‘Everybody on the field [and] off the field enjoys each other’s company, and that always makes it better.’’

None of Benintendi’s quiet production this season (.751 OPS with 14 homers) has come as a surprise to manager Will Venable.

‘‘Every one of our guys can learn from ‘Benny’ and how he approaches it with runners in scoring position,’’ Venable said. ‘‘It’s about his experience. It’s about his understanding of his own strengths. And he’s been on the field in every type of situation that there is.’’

Rivalry rekindled?

Veteran Twins starter Joe Ryan has seen several iterations of the American League Central-rival Sox in his six-year career — most of them bad. He’s as surprised as anyone by a team aiming to bury the Twins in the standings.

‘‘That’s been a crazy revamp,’’ said Ryan, who’s out with a strained glute. ‘‘You can just see the energy on the field. It’s so different there. In the past, it was kind of like you’ve still got to pitch well, but they didn’t seem like they really always wanted to be there. Now it just seems like they’re hungry for it.’’

HR streak peters out

All-Star center fielder Tristan Peters’ franchise-record-tying, five-game home-run streak ended Friday, but he still got a hit and scored from third on a passed ball.

It was just the latest accomplishment in a stunning season for Peters, a former member of the Savannah Bananas who played at Southern Illinois long before the Sox acquired him for peanuts last offseason.

According to STATS, Peters is the only player in major-league history to hit for the cycle, hit a grand slam and a walk-off homer, homer in five games in a row, notch a six-RBI game and reach base safely five times in a game all in one season.

Murakami flashes leather

Rookie first baseman Munetaka Murakami entered play Saturday hitting .148/.313/.352 in his previous 15 games, but he’s finding other ways to contribute.

Murakami turned a nifty, inning-ending double play with runners on the corners by fielding a grounder by the Twins’ Luke Keaschall, stepping on the bag and throwing a dart to catcher Drew Romo to nab Trevor Larnach at the plate.

Venable said Murakami arrived with plenty of natural instinct from his years as a third baseman in Japan, ‘‘but there’s a lot of nuance [at first base] and a lot of subtle details that Mune’s doing a really good job of learning and growing on. . . . It’s been cool to watch him develop over there.’’

Drafted to sing

Romo’s teammates gave him the task of singing the national anthem before kicking off their fantasy football draft at a hotel in Minneapolis.

Video evidence shared on social media by right-hander Erick Fedde suggests the Sox don’t have to worry about losing Romo to the music industry.

‘‘They played a longer, slower version by Chris Stapleton, and he’s extremely hard to compete with,’’ Romo said.

Reliever Sean Newcomb selected Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs with the first pick.