Byron Buxton’s grand slam highlighted a 10-run fifth inning for the Minnesota Twins, allowing them to coast to a 16-8 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night in Phoenix.
Brooks Lee had four hits, three runs scored and two RBIs, Victor Caratini had three hits, three RBIs and three runs scored, Ryan Kreidler had three hits and four RBIs, and Luke Keaschall also had three hits and scored three times for Minnesota, which has won five of six.
Twins starter Taj Bradley (6-3) allowed two runs and three hits over five innings. He struck out four and walked two.
Jorge Barrosa homered and doubled, Pavin Smith had two hits and an RBI, Tommy Troy had two hits and a run scored, and Ildemaro Vargas delivered a three-run double for Arizona, which had won four of five.
Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen (3-6) surrendered career highs of nine runs and 12 hits over four innings. The 2023 NL All Star struck out two and walked two.
Lee’s two-run single in the first gave the Twins an early 2-0 lead.
Gallen retired eight in a row before back-to-back soft-hit singles and a swinging bunt by Keaschall loaded the bases for Kreidler, who rolled a grounder up the middle that second baseman Ketel Marte could only knock down, extending the lead to 3-0.
Trevor Larnach followed with the fifth straight single for the Twins, driving in a pair of runs for a 5-0 lead.
After Gallen got the second out, Kody Clemens dropped a single into left-center field to score Kreidler and make it 6-0.
Lee began the 10-run fifth with a triple into the right-field corner. He scored when Caratini doubled into the right-center field gap to make it 7-0.
A single by Keaschall put runners on the corners, still with no outs, and ended Gallen’s night.
The Twins continued to pad their lead against Yilber Diaz, loading the bases for Buxton, who went the other way for a grand slam over the right-field fence, extending the lead to 12-0.
A two-run single from Caratine and a two-run triple from Kreidler capped off the massive inning,
Barrosa went deep with a runner aboard in the fifth to cut it to 16-2. The D-Backs plated another run when the first four batters of the seventh walked and then scored three on Vargas’ double to make it 16-6.
Smith cut it to 16-7 with a two-out RBI single later in the inning, and Arizona tacked on another run in the eighth on a run-scoring groundout to make it 16-8.
–Field Level Media
