Twins open homestand hot, defeat Orioles with big days from Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton

Phil Miller, The Minnesota Star Tribune on May 6, 2025

Published in Baseball

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

MINNEAPOLIS — What a disappointment for the Minnesota Twins. Royce Lewis, who has returned from five previous injury layoffs with grand slams, two-homer games and at least one hit in each of them, couldn’t provide a Roycian thrill for the Target Field attendees who simply expect such heroics from him by now.

Then again, why get lost in a crowd?

Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton, who clearly missed their power-hitting colleague in the lineup, each stepped in to provide the home run that Lewis didn’t. Amid a party atmosphere at Target Field, they combined to drive in seven runs and steer the Twins to a 9-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

Correa’s two-run upper-deck blast in the third inning, shortly after Buxton’s RBI double, traveled an estimated 458 feet, the longest home run by a Twins hitter this year, and the second-longest of his career.

And Buxton’s bullet four rows deep in left field in the seventh, bringing in three runs, came a couple of minutes before Correa’s shindig-capping run-scoring single.

The win was both streak-extending — the Twins’ third straight win and fourth in a row on their home field — and more important, streak-breaking. The Twins had lost 10 consecutive games to Baltimore, and had failed to score five runs against the Orioles in 11 straight.

And the Twins’ bust-out offense might not even have been the most impressive part of their effort. Twins pitchers struck out a season-high 15 batters, including 11 by starter Pablo López — who pitched only five innings.

Lewis, making his 2025 debut after six weeks on the injured list, flew out twice, grounded into a double play and reached base on the first of Orioles third baseman Coby Mayo’s two errors. But his presence figures to eventually pay off, especially against left-handed pitching.

Strangely, given their recent domination of the Twins, it’s the last-place Orioles who own the worse record (now 13-21 to Minnesota’s 16-20), and they looked the part in the teams’ first meeting of 2025. Not only did López strike out the side in three different innings — only four outs came on balls in play — but Baltimore registered only three hits all night.

One of them, a fourth-inning double by Ryan Mountcastle, scored Gunner Henderson, who had walked, with Baltimore’s only run. But no other Orioles batter ever reached third base, and López simply struck out Jackson Holliday to end their lone mild threat.

The Twins, meanwhile, put together a five-run inning to beat left-hander Cade Povich, their third straight victory against a left-handed starter, and a four-run frame against relievers Lionel Pérez and Matt Bowman.

____