The Twins couldn’t capitalize on a pitcher’s wildness on Saturday, but they certainly did against Brady Singer, scoring a run in the second inning and then jumped all over him for seven more in the third to cruise to an 8-4 win and a series victory over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.
Powering the Twins was Byron Buxton, who doubled and homered, scored two runs and drove in three more. He now shares the team lead in home runs at seven with Joey Gallo.
On the mound, the win went to Sonny Gray who ended the month of April at 4-0 with a 0.77 earned run average, which ties him for the lowest April ERA in team history, according to MLB.com.
Joe Ryan gets the ball Tuesday in Chicago against the White Sox.
Extra innings …
-The Royals are bad, but so are the South Siders, who finished April with an 8-21 record, including 1-9 in their last 10 games. The Twins are now 17-12 in the AL Central and have a 3.5 game lead on the Cleveland Guardians.
-Ask and you shall receive: The other day I was wondering about the Twins’ young pitchers and whether they would finally get an extended shot with the team. With Kenta Maeda and Tyler Mahle sidelined by injuries, Bailey Ober got the nod on Saturday and Louie Varland can’t be too far behind him. Josh Winder also made his season debut with the Twins on Sunday. He came into the game as a reliever, but wasn’t real sharp, allowing two runs on three hits in less than an inning of work with a walk and one strikeout.
-How about the ageless wonder known as Nelson Cruz? Ex-Twin Cruz, now playing for the San Diego Padres, went 5-for-6 with a double and home run against the San Francisco Giants on Saturday. He also scored a run, drove in four more and stole a base! The 42-year-old now has 462 career home runs.