DETROIT (AP) — Carlos Correa homered and drove in four runs as the Minnesota Twins won their season-best fifth straight game with a 9-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Monday night.
The Twins (60-54) also got a homer and three RBIs from Ryan Jeffers, improving to 15-8 since the All-Star break.
Pablo López (7-6) won his second straight start, holding Detroit scoreless for seven innings. He gave up five hits and didn’t walk a batter while striking out eight. The Tigers only had one runner reach scoring position against him.
Joey Wentz (2-10) took the loss, allowing eight runs on 10 hits and a walk in three innings. Wentz is now 0-6 with a 6.61 in 15 career appearances at Comerica Park.
The Twins took control early, scoring four times in the first inning and three in the second.
Donovan Solano led off the game with a double and scored on Carlos Correa’s one-out double. Max Kepler followed with an infield single and Jeffers hit his ninth homer of the year to put the Twins up 4-0.
After the nine-batter first, Solano led off the second with a single and took second on Jorge Polanco’s base hit. Correa hit Minnesota’s second three-run homer of the game to make it a 7-0 game.
Michael A. Taylor made it 8-0 with a third-inning RBI groundout.
Tigers closer Alex Lange walked the bases loaded in the eighth before hitting Kepler to increase the margin to nine.
Utilityman Zack Short pitched for the second time in four days and the fifth time this season. He threw a scoreless ninth inning, getting his first career strikeout when Taylor missed a 70.7 eephus.
Nick Maton hit a three-run homer in the ninth.
HOT STREAK
López is 2-1 in his last four starts with a 1.80 ERA and 28 strikeouts against three walks in 25 innings.
UP NEXT
The teams play the second of four games on Tuesday, with Minnesota RHP Sonny Gray (5-4, 3.18) facing Detroit LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (7-5, 2.96) in a battle of aces.