BOSTON — It took more than a decade, but the Twins finally solved Corey Kluber.
Kluber, who won two Cy Young Awards with Cleveland in part by consistently dominating the Twins, surrendered seven runs in the first three innings at Fenway Park on Wednesday, and the Twins snapped their three-game losing streak with a 10-4 victory over the Red Sox.
Edouard Julien launched the first pitch he ever saw from the 37-year-old right-hander 418 feet into the right-field seats, and Joey Gallo celebrated his return from the injured list by crushing one just one foot shorter in the third inning. Together they earned Minnesota a 7-0 lead, the most runs the Twins have ever scored off Kluber in his 25 career starts against them.
Consider Joe Ryan hadn't allowed seven runs yet all season, that was plenty of support for the Twins' own right-hander. Ryan surrendered three runs over six innings, one of them coming on Kiké Hernández's 100th career home run, and improved to 4-0 on the season. Brent Headrick made his major league debut in relief of Ryan, and retired the first six hitters he faced before two walks, a single and a sacrifice fly by Jarren Duran cost him his first run.
Still, Headrick, a starter in the minors who is temporarily filling a long-relief role for the Twins, earned his first save as a professional.
Kluber or not, the offensive outburst was a nice change for the Twins, who had scored only nine runs on 18 hits over their last four games, while striking out 48 times. But they knew things would be different on this night in the very first inning.
Max Kepler, 1 for 9 since returning from the injured list, led off the game with a walk. Two batters later, Byron Buxton snapped an 0-for-15 slump with a drive to the warning track in right-center for a double, his second of the season. A Trevor Larnach ground ball scored the game's first run, and Julien shocked the veteran pitcher by pulling a cutter into the seats, his second home run of the road trip.
In the third inning, after walking Larnach and hitting Julien with a pitch, Kluber gave up a single to center to Jose Miranda, scoring Larnach. Then Gallo announced his return with his team-high fourth blast of the year, scoring three more.
The Twins reached double-digits for the third time in 2023 off Boston reliever Ryan Brazier in the sixth. Kepler hit a ground-rule double that bounced just inside the right-field foul pole, Buxton drew a walk, and Larnach cleared the wall in straightaway center four rows up, giving him a four-RBI night and a team-high 13 on the season.
The Red Sox added a run in the ninth on a Duran sacrifice fly.
