MINNEAPOLIS — Willi Castro and Royce Lewis homered and Carlos Correa had a career-best five hits for the Minnesota Twins, who met Colorado starter Austin Gomber with a five-run first inning and finished with a season-high 24 hits in a 17-9 victory over the Rockies on Wednesday.
Lewis, one of five Twins with three or more hits, went 3 for 5 and scored three times. Carlos Santana started the onslaught with a three-run double in the first and hit an RBI single in a seven-run eighth.
The Twins collected their most hits since setting the single-game club record with 28 on June 13, 2017.
“This is the type of day that I think a lot of guys remember," manager Rocco Baldelli said. "You had a lot of guys have a lot of highlight swings.”
Pablo López (6-6) picked up just his second win in six turns, permitting two runs in five innings — including Ryan McMahon hitting a solo homer for the second game in a row.
Lewis hit a two-run shot in the sixth inning for his fifth home run in nine games since returning from a severely strained quadriceps to give the Twins a 10-3 lead, but then the rain came and their bullpen was ravaged by the Rockies.
After Brenton Doyle's two-run single in the seventh, the tarp was tugged out for a 37-minute delay. Caleb Thielbar — whose ERA spiked to 8.62 — teed up a three-run eighth with a walk, a double and a walk. The Twins summoned closer Jhoan Duran to finish the inning with the tying run at the plate.
“You really have to stay grounded and you have to stay steady in games like this,” Baldelli said. “That game got very tight, and I just like the way we just kept coming in every way, shape and form.”
Batting practice is rare for an afternoon start, but the Twins essentially staged a session during the game. They went 11 for 18 against Gomber (1-4), who failed to record an out in the fourth inning while allowing a season-high eight runs and 11 hits to match his career most.
The Twins (36-32) took two of three games from the Rockies and have won 11 of their last 15 series. The Rockies (24-44) have lost nine of their last 12 games, with a 9.17 ERA for the bullpen over the last 10.
Manuel Margot surprised the Rockies with a perfectly placed leadoff bunt up the third base line, and Gomber never recovered. The left-hander got ahead of Byron Buxton with an 0-2 count, before a bases-loaded single put the Twins on the board.
Santana followed with a drive off the 23-foot wall in right-center that cleared the bases. He scored on Kyle Farmer’s single, the sixth hit of the inning. In his last 10 games, Santana is 12 for 35 with 11 RBIs.
After posting an 0.68 ERA while logging 26 2/3 innings over four appearances last month, Gomber has gone backward in June. He has given up 15 runs on 22 hits and five walks over 11 innings in three starts after his turn was skipped due to elbow soreness.
“I feel the same I did a month ago,” Gomber said. “I'm just not making as good of pitches right now.”
López rebounded from the least effective start of what has been a rough season for the 2023 All-Star, who has been struggling to rediscover the dominance of his sweeper.
“It was a good series to get back on that feeling of like, ‘We’re here. We have all the pieces we need to play good baseball,'” López said.
UP NEXT
Rockies: After an off day on Thursday, RHP Ryan Feltner (1-5, 5.74 ERA) takes the mound on Friday night to begin a three-game series against Pittsburgh. The visiting Pirates had not yet announced their starter.
Twins: RHP Joe Ryan (4-5, 3.30 ERA) pitches on Thursday night to open a four-game series against Oakland. RHP Luis Medina (0-1, 5.23 ERA) starts for the Athletics.
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