MINNEAPOLIS -- Manager Ron Gardenhire tried to describe his club's situation prior to Sunday's game against the Indians, and used the only logical phrase that seemed to fit -- "dire straits."

Having lost starters Shannon Stewart and Torii Hunter to injury, along with being limited to just two players on the bench, dire would seem to be the case.

But with the way that the Twins' most recent additions have stepped up to play following the loss of three outfielders in four days, that description might quickly be changing.

In his first game back with the club since his own stint on the disabled list, Rondell White blasted his first home run of the season to lead off the seventh inning, and the Twins took their third straight victory over Cleveland, 5-2, at the Metrodome.

"We have guys beat up, but the good ballclubs work their way through it, and it gives other people the opportunity to play," Gardenhire said after the victory. "Hopefully, we're deep enough as an organization to get through this thing."

It certainly appeared that the Twins got right back on track, as White homered for the first time since Aug. 14, 2005, when he was with the Detroit Tigers. Since his acquisition this past offseason, there had been plenty of expectations for power from the designated hitter, but with a tight left shoulder limiting his swing, he struggled to produce at the plate.

A stint in the Minors to work on loosening the shoulder was cut a bit short when the rash of injuries occurred, and the Twins were a bit unsure of exactly how he would fare upon his return.

What they got was the homer as part of a 2-for-3 day that also included a fourth-inning double. The performance certainly helped boost White's confidence, though nothing felt as good as getting that first homer off his back.

"That one felt great, man," White said with a huge smile on his face. "It's been a long drought since I had one, but I went down to [Triple-A Rochester] and worked hard. I just tried to stay back and use my hands more, so hopefully, I found my swing and can get this going."

But while it was unclear as to how White would perform in his return, there was no bigger question mark entering Sunday's game than Carlos Silva. The right-hander had to leave his last start, at Texas on July 7, in the second inning after straining his right knee, and even Gardenhire had concerns as to just how this outing would go.

But when the Twins needed him most, Silva (5-9) delivered. He allowed just two runs on five hits over six innings. Silva said that there were no problems with the knee during the outing, and the results showed his skipper that there was indeed a change.

"He used his pitches a lot better than he had in a long time -- his breaking ball and his changeup," Gardenhire said. "He just didn't pump in fastballs, and he located pretty decent."

Silva said that one of the big differences in this outing was his ability to use his changeup. He threw a total of 25 changeups in the outing, something he has never done in his career. His decision to throw so many came from the fact that Johan Santana worked with him to help get him back on track from the early season struggles.

"I was trying to do something different with my mechanics, like using the same motion as with the fastball," Silva said. "[Santana] was teaching me that, and I tried it today, and it worked pretty good. I feel pretty comfortable with it. Right now it's whatever it takes -- if it's 50 offspeed pitches, then so be it."

A great pitching performance may have set the tone, but the ability of the offense to step up amid the adversity didn't hurt, either.

Both the Twins and the Indians exchanged leadoff homers to start the game, with Grady Sizemore blasting one in the top of the first and Luis Castillo following with one in the bottom of the inning. It was the first time that has happened in a Twins game since July 16, 2004, against the Royals.

Homers seemed to be the story of the day, as Michael Cuddyer delivered his first blast since June 20, a span of 81 at-bats. The dinger came with two outs in the fourth and knotted the game at 2.

The Twins would come up with more clutch hits in the inning. Justin Morneau singled, and White doubled on a shot that fell in left-center to put runners on second and third. That's when another recent addition, Jason Tyner, came up with a big single to left that scored two runs and put the Twins ahead, 4-2.

Following White's homer, which made it a 5-2 game, the bullpen came in and kept the Indians' bats silent. Jesse Crain pitched two scoreless innings of relief, and Joe Nathan came into the game in the ninth and recorded his 16th save of the season.

With so much chaos caused by all the recent injuries, it may appear that the newest additions may feel some extra pressure to step up and produce. Losing two of the team's prominent players isn't an easy thing to overcome, but for White and many of the other Twins, the feeling is still just to play and not worry about trying to do too much.

"I'm not going to try to put too much pressure on myself, because in the first half, I was trying too hard," White said. "We just need to relax and try to do what we each can do."