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LOS ANGELES -- Nothing seems to be slowing down Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Chris Taylor this month. Not even an 18-minute delay during the sixth inning on Tuesday night. Taylor doubled twice for his seventh multi-hit performance in his past eight games, and he drove in three runs as the Dodgers defeated the Minnesota Twins 6-2 at Dodger Stadium to improve to 35-6 since June 6.
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Los Angeles won its fourth game in a row, and Taylor raised his July batting average to .447 (34-for-76).
"We don't know what this young man's ceiling is," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "I think the beautiful thing is, he just continues to go up there and tries to compete and perform, and he keeps getting big hits. He's also making great defensive plays out there and saving runs, scoring runs, driving in runs. He's a winning player."
Yasiel Puig went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run, Chase Utley had two hits, and Joc Pederson scored two runs.
Roberts met with plate umpire Lance Barrett one pitch after Twins manager Paul Molitor made a double switch with one out in the sixth inning, bringing in relief pitcher Ryan Pressly and shortstop Ehire Adrianza while taking out reliever Trevor Hildenberger and starting shortstop Jorge Polanco.
After a long discussion with Molitor and another with Major League Baseball officials in New York, adding up to a long delay, Polanco returned to the game and Adrianza went to left field, replacing Eddie Rosario.
Pinch hitter Logan Forsythe then delivered a two-out single to center to score Pederson, and Taylor followed with his second double of the game to plate Forsythe for a 6-2 lead.
Molitor said the delay was caused by a miscommunication with Barrett, who put Pressly in Rosario's spot in the lineup on the double switch.
"What I think I said and what (Barrett) thought he heard were two different things and, so, after the first pitch was thrown, Dave came out and obviously was told something differently than what we were doing, and that's where everything broke loose," Molitor said. "I probably should have watched to make sure (Barrett) marked his card correctly."
Dodgers starter Kenta Maeda (9-4) limited Minnesota to two runs (one earned) in five innings. Luis Avilan (one inning) and Josh Ravin (three innings) pitched no-hit ball the rest of the way, with Ravin earning his first career save.
The Dodgers put their leadoff batter on base in the second, third and fourth innings against right-hander Jose Berrios but didn't capitalize until the fourth.
Cody Bellinger lined a single through the shift on the right side, stole second and scored on Pederson's one-out double off the center field wall. The run tied the game 1-1.
Utley then singled to put runners on second and third, and Puig followed with his second base hit of the game, a single to right-center that drove in Pederson for a 2-1 lead.
After Maeda laid down a sacrifice to put runners on second and third, Taylor lined a double into the left field corner, stretching the advantage to 4-1.
"I went to (Maeda) and told him how important that (sacrifice) was," Roberts said. "Kenta's a baseball player. He's gotten big base hits for us. He's out there every day bunting with our bench coach and working on his skill."
The Twins scored first for the second straight game in the series.
Maeda walked Polanco to start the third inning, and Jason Castro grounded the first hit of the game through the right side. The strong throwing arm of Puig in right field kept Polanco from advancing to third, but Polanco later came home on a two-out single by Zack Granite for a 1-0 lead.
Twins All-Star third baseman Miguel Sano was scratched from the starting lineup about a half-hour before the first pitch, although he did pinch-hit in the eighth, striking out.
Sano, who was hit on the left wrist by a pitch from Josh Fields on Monday night, took two rounds of batting practice before he was replaced in the starting lineup by Polanco. Eduardo Escobar moved from shortstop to third base and into Sano's No. 4 spot in the batting order.
The Dodgers benefited from some exceptional defense in the middle innings. Pederson made a diving catch in center to end the fourth with a runner on. Bellinger robbed pinch hitter Robbie Grossman of extra bases to start the fifth as the rookie first baseman dived to his left to backhand a hard grounder headed for the corner.
Bellinger's play proved especially big as shortstop Corey Seager followed with a throwing error and Minnesota added two singles to cut the deficit to 4-2.
Berrios had his second shortest outing of the season, allowing four runs and seven hits in four innings.
Maeda allowed five hits and two walks while striking out in a 91-pitch outing.
NOTES: Twins LHP Jaime Garcia arrived following his trade from the Atlanta Braves on Monday and threw a bullpen session in preparation for his first start Friday at the Oakland A's. ... Minnesota CF Byron Buxton was eligible to come off the disabled list on Tuesday after sitting out the past 10 days with a groin injury, but a migraine headache on Monday sidelined him for another day. ... Dodgers RHP Brock Stewart is scheduled to make his first start of the season on Wednesday in the series finale. Stewart has combined for 13 innings of shutout relief in six appearances since June 20. RHP Ervin Santana will start for Minnesota.
