Byron Buxton homered, doubled and drove in four runs as the Minnesota Twins defeated the host Seattle Mariners 5-1 Saturday night.
Buxton’s three-run shot off reliever Trent Thornton in the sixth inning gave the Twins homers in 18 consecutive games, matching a franchise record.
Mitch Haniger went deep for the Mariners, who lost for just the second time in 11 home games this month.
Twins right-hander Pablo Lopez (8-6) pitched six innings for the victory, allowing one run on four hits, with one walk and nine strikeouts.
Mariners starter Bryce Miller (6-7) took the loss despite allowing just two runs on five hits over five innings. The right-hander walked one and fanned six.
The Twins opened the scoring in the second inning as Max Kepler lined a one-out double to right-center field and Juan Miranda followed with an RBI single to center.
The Mariners tied it in the third as Haniger led off with a homer into the Twins’ bullpen in left field.
Minnesota wasted little time in regaining the lead. Carlos Santana led off the fourth with a double to right, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on Buxton’s two-out double down the left field line that just eluded the reach of diving outfielder Luke Raley.
The Twins pulled away in the sixth. Carlos Correa led off with a single to center and Santana hit a grounder up the middle. Seattle shortstop J.P. Crawford made a diving stop behind the bag and in one motion flipped the ball to second with his glove only to find nobody was covering the base. With two outs, Buxton drove a 2-2 fastball deep to left-center for his eighth homer of the season and the fourth in his past five games.
Minnesota’s Jorge Alcala, Steven Okert and Griffin Jax each pitched a scoreless inning to complete the six-hitter. Jax struck out the side in the ninth.
–Field Level Media
