Garver homers twice as Twins blast Indians

As Byron Buxton walked to the plate for his final atbat, he didn’t consider hitting for the cycle until a fan pointed out the obvious.

“I heard this little kid and he’s like, ‘All you need is a triple,’” said Buxton, who settled for his second double.

It’s the only time he came up short April 28.

Buxton homered on Logan Allen’s second pitch and went 5 for 5, Mitch Garver hit two homers and the struggling Twins connected six times to end a four-game losing streak with a 10-2 thumping of the Indians.

Buxton’s AL-leading eighth homer triggered a three-homer barrage in the first off Allen (1-4), who allowed six home runs in a 12-batter span over two starts and soon will be on his way to Triple-A Columbus.

Buxton added two doubles, two singles and stole a base while pushing his average to .438.

“Leave it up to Buck to get the team going,” Garver said. “He’s been playing out of his mind right now. We follow his lead when he sets the pace for a game. He’s got to be like the most electric baseball player in the game right now.

“He’s certainly the hottest. Everything is going his way. “

Not long after Buxton returned to the dugout in the first, Josh Donaldson hit a 425-foot homer. Allen walked Nelson Cruz and surrendered Jorge Polanco’s 426-foot homer into the left-field bleachers as the Twins took extended batting practice to open a 4-0 lead after 14 pitches.

The home runs energized the two-time defending AL Central champion Twins, who have fallen into last place.

“It was awesome,” Garver said of the early onslaught as Minnesota became the first visiting team to hit six home runs in one game at Progressive Field, which opened in 1994.

J.A. Happ (2-0) took advantage of all the run support. The left-hander, who carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning against Pittsburgh in his previous start, didn’t have to be nearly as good and allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings.

Garver, among several Twins struggling at the plate in the season’s first month, connected for a solo homer in the fifth and added a two-run rocket in the seventh off rookie Sam Hentges.

Williams Astudiollo also homered as Minnesota salvaged the finale of the three-game series and won for just the second time in 10 games.

Amed Rosario homered for the Indians, who went 3-5 in their homestand against the White Sox, Yankees and Twins.