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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Minus their mourning manager, Bobby Kielty and the Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 6-5 Wednesday night.

	Kielty

Ron Gardenhire left the Twins before the game to be with his family in Oklahoma after learning that his father, Clyde, had died at age 77.

With batting coach Scott Ullger taking over, Kielty drove in a career-high four runs to lead Minnesota.

"Ron told me his dad was sick and he had to go,'' Ullger said. "Unfortunately he found out that he had passed away.''

"It was a sad day for us today,'' Ullger added. "And we had a little incentive to win it for him.''

Kielty hit a two-run homer in the second and a two-run double in the third for the Twins, who extended their lead over Chicago to seven games in the AL Central. But understandably, the Twins rookie was not celebrating after the game.

"It really hits you, I could see the long faces,'' Kielty said. "I could feel it in the clubhouse.

"It brings baseball down to a level where it doesn't matter,'' he added. "It makes you think about your family and your parents.''

The Twins had no word on when Gardenhire would return.

Carlos Lee homered twice for the White Sox, who have lost five of six. Chicago led the Central by one game on May 26, but has since lost eight games to the Twins in the standings.

"There is still a lot of time left,'' said Chicago manager Jerry Manuel. "We have a lot of games left against these guys.''

Actually, 16 of Chicago's last 84 games are against Minnesota.

"Right now this game means nothing,'' said Torii Hunter, who was still upset about being hit by Bob Howry in the seventh. "We've got to play those guys a lot.''

Kyle Lohse (7-5) allowed four runs and six hits in 6 1-3 innings, while striking out three and walking one.

After retiring the first two batters in the ninth, Eddie Guardado walked the bases loaded. Frank Thomas then hit an RBI single to make it a one-run game. Guardado retired Magglio Ordonez to end it and get his AL-leading 23rd save.

Todd Ritchie (4-10) fell to 1-8 with one no-decision in his last 10 starts. The former Twin allowed six runs and 10 hits in six innings. He struck out three and walked one.

"I could second guess some of the pitches that made the difference,'' Ritchie said. "The pitch to Kielty is on the top of the list of the ones I would like to have back.''

Lee gave Chicago a 1-0 lead with a solo shot off Lohse in the second that barely cleared the fence in left-center.

But, Minnesota came right back with two runs in bottom of the inning on Kielty's 426-foot shot to center. David Ortiz doubled off Ritchie before Kielty hit his fifth homer of the season.

Corey Koskie made it 3-1 with an RBI single in the third, following consecutive one-out singles by Cristian Guzman and Doug Mientkiewicz. One out later, after Ortiz walked to load the bases, Kielty doubled off the wall in right field to make it 5-1.

Lee's 11th home run of the season, a 410-foot shot in the top of the fifth, made it 5-2. Ortiz hit an RBI double in the bottom half to make it 6-2.

Lee's teammates finally got to Lohse in the seventh, scoring twice to chase the starter. Royce Clayton had an RBI groundout and Kenny Lofton hit a run-scoring single to make it 6-4.

In the bottom of the seventh Howry hit Hunter in the ribs with a fastball, with one out and a runner on third. It was the second hit batsmen in the inning and, after shaking off his pain, Hunter made a movement toward the mound.

"I didn't think anything of it,'' Howry said. "I turned away after the pitch and when I turned back around, there were four guys there. It was just an inside fastball that got away from me.''

Jacque Jones ran off the bench to calm Hunter down as the two of them walked to first. Howry never left the mound, but he and Hunter continued to stare at each other before Manuel made a pitching change. No warnings were issued.

"It's not fair,'' Hunter said. "He gets a chance to hit me and I don't have a chance to hit him.''

Game notes

Lee has three career multihomer games, including one against the Cubs on June 16. ... Paul Konerko (65), Ordonez (55) and Thomas (50) have combined for 170 RBI, the most of any trio in baseball. On Wednesday they went 2-for-14 with one RBI. ... The Twins asked for unconditional release waivers on LHP Travis Miller and recalled RHP Juan Rincon from Triple-A Edmonton. ... Guardado had not walked a batter in 14 consecutive innings before Wednesday.