MINNEAPOLIS — After Toronto blew the Twins out Thursday and then nearly edged them again Friday, the Twins decided to win in a more commanding fashion Saturday.
The Twins put up at least one hit in all but the seventh inning, going on to beat the Blue Jays, 7-3, in front of an announced crowd of 27,471 at Target Field.
Toronto starter Mitch White walked Sandy Leon to start the third inning before Luis Arraez doubled. Byron Buxton and Jorge Polanco then drove in runs back-to-back to put the Twins up 2-0.
The Blue Jays immediately responded, though, with Teoscar Hernandez smacking a leadoff double before Bo Bichette's two-run homer. That was Twins' starter Dylan Bundy's final inning, as he left with five hits, a walk and six strikeouts in his four innings.
White didn't last much longer, coming out in the fifth inning after giving up his second leadoff double of the night to Arraez. Jorge Polanco ended up sending Arraez home on his own double to put the Twins back in the lead.
Jose Miranda began the bottom of the sixth with a solo home run. Nick Gordon singled and then stole second base, advancing to third on Jake Cave's groundout. Sandy Leon then bunted, and Gordon was able to slide home, just as he did to win the game Friday in the 10th inning.
Twins reliever Griffin Jax came in for the eighth and put two men on base right away, so the Twins brought in Jhoan Duran to manage the damage. Bichette did nab an RBI single to make it 5-3, but that was it for the comeback.
Gordon drew a walk first thing in the bottom of the eighth, and Cave followed with an RBI triple. Arraez contributed a RBI single to put the Twins up 7-3.
The Twins are now 57-50 atop the American League Central while Toronto is 59-48 in second in the AL East.
