MINNEAPOLIS—Joe Ryan pitched seven strong innings, and Carlos Correa had a two-run home run among his three hits as the Minnesota Twins beat the Oakland Athletics 6–2 on Thursday night.
One day after the Twins had a season-high 24 hits against Colorado, Minnesota banged out 13 more—12 singles and Correa’s homer in the seventh inning.
Byron Buxton had three hits and drove in two runs, and Royce Lewis and Austin Martin had two hits apiece as the Twins won for the fourth time in five games.
Ryan (5–5) worked seven innings for the fourth time in five starts and lowered his earned-run average to 3.24. The 28-year-old right-hander gave up three hits, struck out five, and walked one.
“That’s the focus,” Ryan said about working deeper into games. “I just go into each game looking for a quality start, whatever that means, whatever that looks like, I guess.”
Tyler Soderstrom homered for the third time in four games for the A’s, who lost their sixth straight. Luis Medina (0–2) gave up four runs in five innings in his third start of the season for Oakland.
Correa, who went 5 for 6 on Wednesday, singled in his first two at-bats. Then, with Lewis on base and two out in the seventh, Correa launched a hanging breaking ball from reliever Sean Newcomb 394 feet into the second deck in left field.
When Correa returned to the dugout, he donned a purple vest and grabbed an inflatable purple guitar in honor of Minneapolis music icon Prince, whose legacy was being celebrated during Prince Day at the ballpark
“I’m like, ‘This is creative. I love this,'” Correa said of his reaction to seeing the vest before the game. “I was like, ‘I want to hit a home run so bad!’ It happened in the last at-bat, but it happened. It’s a great idea. I loved it.”
Correa has 14 hits in his past five games, raising his batting average from .255 to .299.
“He’s putting on a show right now. It’s impressive,” said Lewis, who is 11 for 32 with four home runs since he returned June 3 after missing two months with a strained quad.
Injuries had prevented Buxton, Correa, and Lewis from playing together. But, with the trio now healthy, Manager Rocco Baldelli hopes the recent offensive surge is a sign of things to come.
“It’s a very dynamic trio of guys,” Mr. Baldelli said. “Having them all feeling great, playing great at the same time–this is what happens. They play like this and all of a sudden, we’re putting runs on the board. We’re making a lot of different things happen.”
Soderstrom opened the scoring with a two-run, 431-foot homer to center field in the second inning.
Buxton’s two-run single in the bottom of the inning tied it for the Twins.
