Buxton, Miranda homer, Winder, Twins hand A’s 7th straight loss
MINNEAPOLIS » Byron Buxton hit his ninth home run of the season and Jose Miranda connected for the first homer of his career, backing another sharp start by rookie Josh Winder and sending the Minnesota Twins over the Oakland Athletics 2-1 Friday night.
Twins reliever Emilio Pagán escaped a basesloaded, one-out jam in the ninth inning and sent the A’s to their seventh straight loss.
Making just his second major league start, Winder (2-0) allowed three hits and one unearned run in six innings while striking out eight and walking none. Last weekend at Tampa Bay, the 25-year-old righty got the win, pitching six shutout innings of two-hit ball, striking out seven with one walk.
Winder is another of the Twins’ rookie reinforcements. A starter in the minors, he made his major league debut this year and began the season in the bullpen and made three appearances, giving up four runs in 10 1/3 innings.
The Athletics loaded the bases with one out in the ninth. Pagán got Seth
Brown to ground into a forceout at the plate and struck out Chad Pinder for his third save in four chances.
The AL Central-leading Twins returned home with a win after back-to-back losses in Baltimore and got good news on shortstop Carlos Correa before the game when a CT scan showed he doesn’t have a fractured finger after being hit in the hand by a pitch.
Top Twins prospect Royce Lewis was called up from Triple-A and filled in for Correa. Making his big league debut, he singled in the eighth for his first hit.
Zach Logue (1-1) made
his first major league start for the Athletics after Cole Irvin was placed on the injured list before the game. Logue gave up two runs on five hits and two walks in five innings.
Buxton tied for the major league homer lead with a solo drive in the fifth for a 2-0 lead.
Miranda, 23, broke out last season in the minor leagues, hitting .344 with 30 homers in 127 games between Double-A and TripleA. He was recalled for the first time on May 2 when Miguel Sanó went on the injured list.
His first home run, in his first at-bat at home for Minnesota,
was a line drive to the first row of the second deck in left field at Target Field and gave the Twins a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
Logue was making his second major league appearance after appearing once out of the bullpen. He came to Oakland along with Gunnar Hoglund, Kevin Smith and Kirby Snead in the March trade that sent Matt Chapman to Toronto.
Lewis arrives
The 22-year-old Lewis was recalled from TripleA St. Paul. He was the first overall pick by the Twins in the 2017 draft. Lewis lined a single to right in going 1 for 4.
Lewis sustained a torn knee ligament last year, but he returned this year and was hitting .310 with three home runs and 11 RBIs in 24 Triple-A games.
“Not being able to play for a while and then truly being in disbelief and shock that it was actually happening,” Lewis said. “I truly thought it was going to take a few more years. To get the call and be shocked and amazed, it’s truly a blessing. I can’t wait to show off my skills and have fun and hopefully get some wins for the team.”