Byron Buxton went 4-for-4 with a home run and a double and Luis Arraez had four hits and three RBIs to lead the Minnesota Twins to their third straight victory, 9-2, over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Buxton also was hit by a pitch and scored three runs to go with two RBIs, while Ryan Jeffers also homered, doubled and scored three times as the Twins finished with a season-high 14 hits.
Dylan Bundy, who went just 2-9 with a 6.06 ERA in 23 games (19 starts) for the Los Angeles Angels in 2021, improved to 3-0 by scattering four hits over five shutout innings. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out four while lowering his ERA to 0.59.
Jose Abreu homered and had two RBIs for Chicago, which lost its sixth straight game. Vince Velasquez (0-2) took the loss, allowing five runs on eight hits over 3 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out six.
The Twins loaded the bases with no outs in the first on back-to-back singles by Buxton and Arraez and a walk to Carlos Correa, but they managed just one run on a fielder’s choice by Jorge Polanco. Velasquez got out of the jam by striking out Max Kepler and Trevor Larnach.
The Twins extended the lead to 3-0 in the second when Jeffers doubled off the fence in right-center and scored on a double by Buxton. Arraez then drove in Buxton with a single.
Jeffers made it 4-0 when he led off the fourth with his first home run of the season into the second deck in left. Buxton followed one out later with his fourth homer of the season, a 407-foot drive deep into the second deck in left.
Larnach added a two-run single later in the inning off reliever Bennett Sousa to make it 7-0.
Minnesota increased its lead to 8-0 in the fifth on an RBI single by Arraez.
Abreu then cut the lead to 8-1 in the sixth with his second homer of the season.
Arraez added another RBI single in the seventh to make it 9-1, and Abreu picked up his second RBI in the eighth with a ground out, driving in Danny Mendick who had walked and advanced to third on a double by Andrew Vaughn.
White Sox left fielder Eloy Jimenez had to be carted off the field with a right hamstring injury in the second inning after landing awkwardly after crossing first base while trying to beat out a grounder to third base.
–Field Level Media
