Berrios dazzles as Twins salvage split

MINNEAPOLIS — If the pitching-starved Minnesota Twins are going to continue their surprising run to begin the 2017 season, they’re going to need Jose Berrios to be a key part of their starting rotation.

So far, so good for Berrios and the Twins.

The 22-year-old right-hander allowed two hits and struck out 11 over 7 innings as the Twins beat the Colorado Rockies 2-0 on Thursday night, salvaging a split of an interleague doubleheader between the first-place teams in the AL Central and NL West.

The Twins scored just three runs in the doubleheader, but Berrios (2-0) made his scant support in the nightcap hold up with the best outing of his young career.

In Game 1, Nolan Arenado homered and Mark Reynolds drove in two runs to lead the Rockies to a 5-1 victory. They scored all their runs off Twins starter Ervin Santana (6-2), who entered the day leading the majors with a 1.50 ERA but struggled for his second straight home start.

Victor Martinez hit a two-run homer off Dylan Bundy to put Detroit ahead in the fifth inning, and the Tigers went on to win. J.D. Martinez hit a three-run shot in the third for the Tigers. Ryan Rua hit a tiebreaking three-run homer and Texas stretched its MLBbest winning streak to nine games.

Adam Frazier had a career-high four RBIs, Josh Bell and John Jaso homered, and Pittsburgh rolled.

Eric Sogard had his second four-hit game in three days and drove in three runs.