Byron Buxton hits home runs, doubles to lead Minnesota Twins to victory over Detroit Tigers

DETROIT (AP) — Byron Buxton hit a home run and a double, Christian Vázquez had a home run and three hits and the Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers 9-3 on Friday night.

Pablo López (9-7) allowed two runs on six hits in seven innings and struck out seven.

Tigers starter Keider Montero (1-4) allowed six runs on eight hits, including three home runs, in five innings.

Buxton and Trevor Larnach gave Minnesota a 2-0 lead with back-to-back home runs in the first inning, and Matt Wallner hit another home run to right field in the second inning.

Javier Báez hit his second home run in as many days to make it 3-2 in the third inning, but Minnesota scored three in the fourth.

Willi Castro drove in two with a single to left and made a big turn around the bag, prompting second baseman Colt Keith to throw to first. The Tigers were wearing their black City Connect jerseys, and the only person wearing that color at first base was umpire Mike Muchlinski. Keith’s throw sailed into the Minnesota dugout, allowing Castro to take third. He scored on Buxton’s double to left.

Vázquez hit a two-run home run off Joey Wentz to make it 8-2 in the sixth inning.

The Tigers got the bases loaded in the seventh inning with no outs, but Gio Urshela hit the ball to a hard batter at the plate, eliminating Báez and Wenceel Pérez.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: Activated 3B Royce Lewis (adductor strain) from the injured list and sent C Jair Carmago to Triple-A St. Paul. Lewis entered the game hitting .292 with 10 home runs and 18 RBI in 24 games.

Tigers: Placed All-Star OF Riley Greene (hamstring) on ​​the injured list and recalled UTL Ryan Vilade from Triple-A Toledo. Greene has been injured in each of his first three seasons, limiting him to 293 games.

NEXT ONE

The teams will play the second game of the series on Saturday, with Tigers top prospect Tarik Skubal (11-3, 2.34) taking on Minnesota RHP Joe Ryan (6-6, 3.65).

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