(Sports Network) - Despite a hard charge by the Minnesota Twins in the last week, the Chicago White Sox will hold on to first place in the American League Central at the All-Star Break, regardless the outcome of today's series finale versus Texas at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

Jim Thome helped snap a brief two-game slide by the White Sox on Saturday, as he homered yet again and drove in four runs in the 9-7 victory. Thome, who is now 16th on the all-time home run list with 525, is 13-for-22 with seven homers and 16 RBI in eight games against the Rangers since last year and has reached base safely in 27 consecutive games in Arlington.

Paul Konerko finished up 4-for-4 with a homer and drove in two runs, while Carlos Quentin added a two-run single for the White Sox, who won for the fifth time in seven contests and maintained a 1 1/2-game lead on Minnesota for the top spot in the division.

Starting pitcher John Danks continued to throw well for the Sox, as he gave up four runs on seven hits while striking out eight in 7 2/3 innings of work.

Ian Kinsler extended his hitting streak to 24 games with an RBI double in the eighth inning and had two RBI for the Rangers, who had won five of seven outings heading into Saturday. Kinsler's hitting streak is tied for third- longest in Rangers history, only four shy of Gabe Kapler's team record set in 2000.

Texas outfielder Josh Hamilton continued to add to his fabled story as he plated two more runs on Saturday to give him a major league-leading 95 RBI.

Kevin Millwood saw his record dip to 6-5 on the season for the Rangers, permitting five runs on 10 hits and four walks while fanning four in his 5 1/3 innings of action.

Texas closes out the first half of the season today by sending rookie hurler Matt Harrison at the White Sox. The 22-year old lefty pitched his very first game in the majors on Tuesday versus the Angels, earning the victory after he gave up two runs on five hits and a walk over seven innings of work. Harrison struck out only one batter in the outing, but still came up a winner in the 3-2 decision.

As for the White Sox, they're opting for a more experienced arm on the hill today, handing the ball to Jose Contreras. The 36-year old Cuban native, who is 1-1 in his career versus Texas, has won just one of his last four decisions, dropping him to 7-6 on the campaign.

On Tuesday the right-hander was torched for 10 hits, the third time in the last six outings he's permitted as many, which led to five runs against Kansas City. Contreras was also guilty of two wild pitches and struck out just a single batter in 5 2/3 innings. Lucky for the White Sox, they still figured out a way to capture an 8-7 win over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

Because of the efforts of Kinsler, who leads the AL in batting at .333, and Hamilton, the Rangers are tied for first in the league in hitting with a .282 average and have the top slugging percentage (.460) in all of baseball.

By no means are the White Sox anything to sneeze at offensively, though, as they lead the league with 127 home runs at the moment. The last six games have seen Thome hit .450 with two home runs, six RBI and six runs scored, although A.J. Pierzynski's mere .105 average in the last six games is one of the main reasons why Chicago is hitting a collective .257 during the last week.