Royce Lewis went 3-for-4 and belted a three-run homer in a 10-run sixth inning as the Minnesota Twins smashed the Detroit Tigers 15-2 on Tuesday in Minneapolis.
The Twins have outscored the Tigers 26-3 in the first two games of the three-game series, with Kody Clemens and Ryan Jeffers homering in each contest. Jeffers has three long balls in the series.
Minnesota (67-72), riding a three-game winning streak, remains 3 1/2 games back of the Cleveland Guardians (70-68) for the third American League wild-card position.
The Tigers (63-75) have lost seven straight road games and three games in a row overall.
Andrew Morris opened for the Twins, giving up two hits and a run in his one inning, with no walks or strikeouts.
Connor Prielipp (4-7) permitted three hits in five scoreless innings as the bulk reliever. The southpaw walked one and struck out five in a 73-pitch outing.
Tigers starter Troy Melton (7-4) allowed six hits and seven runs, five earned, in 5 1/3 innings. The right-hander struck out four and walked one in 96 pitches.
With the game tied 1-1, the Twins broke through in the fifth with three runs.
Trevor Larnach led off with a walk, and Lewis doubled over Riley Greene’s head in left. Walker Jenkins hit a one-out grounder right to shortstop John Peck, who threw home to get Larnach in a rundown.
Catcher Dillon Dingler, however, tossed the ball into left field, allowing Larnach and Lewis to score to make it 3-1. The next batter, Luke Keaschall, gave the Twins a three-run lead with a double down the left field line to score Jenkins.
Minnesota sent 15 batters to the plate while chasing Melton in the sixth inning.
Josh Bell started it with a one-out single and Larnach was hit by a pitch. That set the table for Lewis, who delivered a three-run bomb to center to give the Twins a 7-1 lead.
Kaelen Culpepper greeted reliever Kyle Finnegan with a double, and Jenkins walked. Keaschall made it six straight Twins to reach base, as his single drove in Culpepper. A sacrifice fly by Brooks Lee brought in Jenkins to give the Twins an eight-run lead.
Jeffers’ three-run homer to left boosted the margin to 12-1. Culpepper added a two-run single later in the inning.