Advertisement

Minnesota Twins: Byron Buxton's inside-the-park homer highlights win over Arizona Diamondbacks

By Brian Hall, The Sports Xchange
Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins signs autographs prior to a game against the Cleveland Indians earlier this season. Photo by Aaron Josefczyk/UPI
Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins signs autographs prior to a game against the Cleveland Indians earlier this season. Photo by Aaron Josefczyk/UPI | License Photo

MINNEAPOLIS -- Byron Buxton hit an inside-the-park home run and was a single away from a cycle. Miguel Sano went deep twice and the Minnesota Twins tied a season high with six home runs in a 10-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday.

Sano and Eduardo Escobar each hit two-run shots in the seventh inning. Max Kepler and Brian Dozier added solo homers while Ervin Santana recovered from a tough start to pitch six steady innings.

Advertisement

Santana (13-7) allowed three runs on seven hits and three walks. He struck out six batters as the Twins drew within a half-game of an American League wild card spot with the victory.

Zack Godley (5-6) had his shortest major league outing since April 26 in going 5 1/3 innings. He gave up four runs on nine hits and two walks. Godley, who was 2-1 with a 1.78 ERA in his previous four starts, struck out 10 batters.

Advertisement

Arizona wasted no time getting to Santana, the All-Star right-hander. David Peralta led off the game with a single and scored on Jake Lamb's single. Lamb came around to score on a single by Paul Goldschmidt.

Peralta added his 13th homer, a solo shot to the opposite field, in the second inning. After A.J. Pollock singled, Santana got locked in. He struck out five straight hitters and retired 10 in a row.

Buxton stole the show from there. He tripled to the left-center field gap in the second and trotted home on a double by Jorge Polanco. Kepler hit a solo homer leading off the bottom of the third, his 16th of the season that went to the second deck in right-center field.

Buxton tied the game an inning later with his dash around the bases. He led off the inning with a high drive off the right-field wall that bounced away from Pollock in center field. Buxton used his speed to round the bases in 13.85 seconds, according to Major League Baseball's Statcast -- the fastest time it's ever recorded.

NOTES: Minnesota officially placed OF Robbie Grossman on the 10-day disabled list with a fractured left thumb and recalled C Mitch Garver from Triple-A Rochester. Grossman is expected to miss at least three weeks. Garver will be making his major league debut. ... Arizona LHP Robbie Ray came out of Thursday's rehab start feeling good, according to manager Torey Lovullo. Ray will join the team in Minnesota as the Diamondbacks decide when he might rejoin the rotation. Lovullo indicated it could be sometime after Monday. Ray has been on the seven-day concussion disabled list since being hit in the head by a line drive on July 27. ... Lovullo said SS Nick Ahmed (right hand fracture) will play in a rehab game on Saturday with the Diamondbacks rookie league team in Arizona. Ahmed will play DH before returning to the field. Lovullo said RHP Randall Delgado (right elbow inflammation) felt good after throwing off flat ground on Thursday. ... Arizona bench coach Ron Gardenhire was honored before the game by Minnesota. It's Gardenhire's first trip back to Target Field with an opposing team. Gardenhire is the winningest manager in Twins history with 1,068 victories in 13 seasons.

Advertisement

Latest Headlines