The visiting Minnesota Twins scratched Byron Buxton due to a sore right hand on Saturday, but they received a lift from Kyle Garlick, who belted two home runs in a 9-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
Garlick celebrated his first career multi-home run game since joining the big leagues in 2019. Getting the start in left field, and hitting third, he went deep twice off Shane McClanahan (1-2).
Max Kepler, who later replaced Garlick, added a two-run homer and drove in three runs. Carlos Correa also had three hits and an RBI as the Twins didn’t miss a beat without Buxton, who bruised his hand after being hit by a pitch on Friday.
The Twins had their seven-game winning streak snapped on Friday night, but bounced back to end the Rays’ string of three straight wins. The teams wrap up their series on Sunday.
Garlick’s two no-doubt homers foiled an otherwise dominant performance by McClanahan. The Rays’ ace set a career-high with 11 strikeouts in five-plus innings. Taylor Walls hit his first home run of the season for Tampa Bay.
Tampa Bay was limited to four hits. Josh Lowe had a double, and Wander Franco and Randy Arozarena each singled.
For Twins starting pitcher Chris Archer, Saturday was a homecoming. The 33-year-old was a two-time All-Star with the Rays before being traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates during the 2018 season.
Archer worked four innings, allowing one run on two hits with three walks and four strikeouts. Cody Stashak (2-0) was credited with the win.
Minnesota broke it open late, scoring twice in the seventh on Trevor Larnach’s RBI double and Kepler’s run-scoring single. And in a four-run ninth inning, Kepler hit his two-run homer.
— Field Level Media