Pablo Lopez pitched six strong innings, Byron Buxton hit a three-run homer and the visiting Minnesota Twins beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-1 on Friday night in a game whose start was delayed 1 hour and 26 minutes by rain.
Joey Gallo and Max Kepler also homered, and Royce Lewis had three hits for the Twins. Buxton added a double and a walk, stole a base and scored twice.
The Twins had held a players-only meeting Wednesday after being swept in a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves. They scored in each of the first four innings against Oriole starter Dean Kremer.
Minnesota went 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position after going 0-for-23 in their series against the Braves.
Lopez (4-5) allowed a run on three hits. He struck out six and walked three.
Adley Rutschman hit his 11th homer of the season for Baltimore, which has lost three straight.
Kremer (8-4) went three-plus innings and allowed seven runs on seven hits. He struck out five and walked two.
Carlos Correa singled leading off the game for Minnesota and later scored on a two-out single by Lewis.
With two outs in the second, Gallo homered to right on a 3-2 pitch to make it 2-0.
The Orioles had runners on first and second with one out against Lopez in the second inning, but Adam Frazier flied out, Anthony Bemboom walked to load the bases and Cedric Mullins flied out.
Buxton walked leading off the Minnesota third. He stole second and scored on a single by Alex Kirilloff. Lewis flied out, but Kepler followed with a homer to right center, and the Twins led 5-0.
The Twins turned it into a rout in the fourth. Gallo led off with a walk and Correa was hit by a pitch. Kremer was replaced by Bruce Zimmermann. Kyle Farmer flied out, but Buxton lifted a three-run homer to left, his 14th of the season, and the lead was 8-0.
Rutschman made it 8-1 in the sixth.
–Field Level Media
