MINNEAPOLIS — Two home runs from Byron Buxton spurred the Twins to a 9-4 victory against Tampa Bay on Friday.
Buxton has now smacked five home runs in his past three games and six total in the month of June through seven games so far.
Batting second as the designated hitter, Buxton put the first run on the board with his second-deck home run in the first inning. But his fifth-inning homer to the bullpen was the one that started the Twins' onslaught in a six-run, six-hit barrage.
Rays' starter Drew Rasmussen (5-3) gave up Buxton's home run, three doubles and a walk before he left the game in the fifth for former Twins pitcher Ralph Garza Jr.
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli didn't want to go into details pregame, but he mentioned how his hitters were prepared for Rasmussen's dangerous cutter.
"There are guys that are looking for the cutter away so they can shoot it the other way. There are guys that are looking for the cutter kind of in the middle of the plate so they can turn on it. But it's going to depend on the individual hitter," Baldelli said. "Our guys have done a good job of [that], but it's not a one-size-fits-all approach. It's a good pitch, and he's good."
The game was tied 1-1 prior to that big fifth inning, after Isaac Paredes homered off Twins' starter Devin Smeltzer. Smeltzer gave up two more homers to start the seventh inning before exiting the mound. In all he allowed four hits and three walks while striking out three. With the win, Smeltzer now has a 3-0 record.
Tampa Bay scored one more run in the eighth inning, when Randy Arozarena drove in his second RBI of the night with Joe Smith on the mound. Carlos Correa buoyed the Twins even more with his two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth, delivering the ball to the bullpen just as Buxton had done earlier.
Emilio Pagan closed the game with a one-two-three ninth inning.
