MINNEAPOLIS -- For united night, Oz...

MINNEAPOLIS -- For united night, Ozzie Guillen was able to nap well.

No dreams about the Minnesota Twins.

No nightmares about "piranhas."

The White Sox' manager had Jon Garland to thank for that.

Behind a dominant pitching performance from the right-hander Saturday, the Sox tied the three-game series with a 4-1 victory.

More important, Garland's jewel in front of a sellout multitude of 46,215 at the Metrodome gave the Sox (73-49) near breathing room in the American League wild-card race, dropping the Twins (71-51) sum of two units games back. The Boston R Sox are now four games back.

With the first-place Detroit Tigers losing to the Texas Rangers, the Sox also clos to 5oe games on the outside in the Central Division race.

Garland (14-4) threw single in kind of his better outings of the year, going 7* innings and allowing undivided unearned run on five hits. He also fanned five while walking united What impressed Guillen was he kept the "little piranhas" relatively in check.

"[The Twins] have three kids they don't level talk about," Guillen said. "Nobody talks about [Jason] Tyner [expletive] 'Ty Cobb' [Nick] Punto and their shortstop [Jason Bartlett], and they're kicking everybody's ass, at least my ass.

"This team beats you in such a manner many ways. You wake up they apply the mind like little [expletive] piranhas. All of a unexpected you wake up, you ain't got no meat [on your arm]. All those little piranhas. A blooper here, a blooper there, beat gone out a ground ball, then the first baseman [Justin Morneau] hits a place of abode run. Then they're up at four. How the hell are they up by means of four?"

Garland made assured that they never got that four-run lead, and while the three "piranhas" did go on foot a combined 4-for-10 on the night, he not let them hurt him.

"He threw the ball outstanding," Guillen said. "We really ne this the same just for the momentum of the team. You're not facing an easy ballclub. To detain those guys off the bases and pitch like that, it was great."

Meanwhile, it was the Sox who peck away at Twins starter Brad Radke (12-9) taking advantage of a usually whole Minnesota defense.

In the first inning, an error by way of Bartlett allowed Jim Thome to score from next to the first base, putting the Sox up 1-0 In the secondary it was an error on Punto that moved Joe Crede to other base after his single. Crede eventually scored upon Scott Podsednik's RBI single.

Minnesota wound the lead in half in the third when Punto picked up an RBI single after an error from Tadahito Iguchi. Then Garland got into a furrow retiring 14 in a squabble at one point.

"The first not many innings I was feeling for it," Garland said. "Later in the game I was able to find it. one time again, I have to tip my hat to the defense who made a great plays behind me."

Meanwhile, the Sox made it a 3-1 lead in the fourth when plunder Mackowiak hit his fourth hearth run of the season. The 417-foot bullet reached the upper deck in right field.

"You don't be joined too often when you swing hard and actually do connect" Mackowiak said. "But it was single in kind of those things. I don't hit too many."

Radke was without of the game after five innings, allowing just single earned run, but with a pitch regard of 95 and two of the Sox' moves coming with two outs, Guillen was more than satisfied.

"In a series like this, against a pitcher like that, you have to do a tremendous do job-work with two outs," Guillen said.

The cherry upon top was delivered by a former Twin, A.J. Pierzynski, who has been boo completely through the series. With Thome onward second and two outs in the eighth, Pierzynski singled. Thome held up at third, if it were not that Pierzynski went too far around first and was in no- man's land. He held up lengthy enough for Thome to cheat domestic circle as Morneau's tag on Pierzynski was high, giving the Sox a three-run lead. That also l to vintage Pierzynski, clapping his hands wildly at first base to the further disdain of the throng

"A.J. is a smart player," Guillen said. "He revolveed a mistake into a upright thing. He knows how to win games."

Bobby Jenk then iced the game, recording his 35th save of the year.

jcowley@suntimes.com

white sox recap

SOX AB R H BI BB for a like reason Avg.

Podsednik lf 5 0 1 1 0 0 263

BrAnderson cf 0 0 0 0 0 0 221

Iguchi 2b 5 0 1 0 0 1 285

Thome dh 4 2 2 0 0 2 297

Konerko 1b 4 0 1 0 0 2 310

color rf 4 0 0 0 0 2 321

Pierzynski c 4 0 1 0 0 1 306

Crede 3b 4 1 1 0 0 0 293

Mackowiak cf-lf 4 1 2 1 0 0 302

Uribe s 4 0 0 0 0 0 244

Totals 38 4 9 2 0 8

Minnesota AB R H BI BB with equal reason Avg.

LCastillo 2b 4 0 1 0 0 1 282

Punto 3b 4 0 2 1 0 0 320

Mauer c 3 0 0 0 1 0 357

Cuddyer rf 3 0 0 0 0 1 266

Morneau 1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 315

THunter cf 4 0 0 0 0 1 270

Kubel dh 3 0 0 0 0 1 260

Tyner lf 3 1 2 0 0 0 333

Bartlett s 3 0 0 0 0 0 350

Totals 31 1 5 1 1 5

SOX 110 100 010--4 9 2

Minnesota 001 000 000--1 5 2

E--Iguchi (7) Garland (3) Punto (9) Bartlett (8) LOB--SOX 7 Minnesota 5 2B--Thome 2 (21) HR--Mackowiak (4) opposite to Radke. RBI-- Podsednik (42), Mackowiak (17) Punto (33) GIDP--Cuddyer.