Luke Keaschall clubbed a tiebreaking two-run home run and the Minnesota Twins pulled away for a 7-3 win over the Detroit Tigers on Monday night in Minneapolis.
Victor Caratini went 2-for-4 with three RBIs for Minnesota, which won the opener of a four-game series. Matt Wallner finished 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI.
Zach McKinstry went 1-for-3 with two RBIs to lead Detroit at the plate. Rookie Kevin McGonigle batted leadoff and went 1-for-5 with a double.
Twins right-hander Joe Ryan (1-1) allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits in five innings. He walked three and struck out seven.
Tigers right-hander Casey Mize (0-1) surrendered five runs on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings. He walked three and fanned four.
Cody Laweryson pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief to earn his first career save for the Twins. Minnesota’s bullpen combined to pitch four scoreless frames.
The Twins jumped to a 3-0 lead in the third inning.
Byron Buxton hit a leadoff double, advanced to third on a single by Trevor Larnach and scored on a sacrifice fly by Caratini. Wallner and Royce Lewis followed with back-to-back RBI singles.
The Tigers responded quickly to even the score at 3-all in the fourth.
Colt Keith ripped an RBI double to right for Detroit’s first run. McKinstry stepped to the plate with the bases loaded one out later and delivered a two-run single that scored Keith and Gleyber Torres.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Twins pulled ahead 5-3. Larnach hit a two-out single, and Keaschall followed with a two-run, 367-foot homer to left to give Minnesota the lead.
Minnesota added a pair of insurance runs against Detroit’s bullpen in the eighth.
Caratini capitalized on a two-out, bases-loaded opportunity when he knocked a two-run single to center. The hit scored Buxton and Austin Martin, each of whom had reached base by drawing a walk.
