Luke Keaschall homers, top of Twins lineup finally delivers in 7-3 victory over Tigers

Bobby Nightengale, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Apr 6, 2026

Published in Baseball

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MINNEAPOLIS — All it took for the Minnesota Twins offense to show signs of life after a couple of anemic performances was their best hitters looking like, well, their best hitters.

Luke Keaschall lined a go-ahead, two-run homer over the left-field wall in the fourth inning. Byron Buxton ended a 0 for 20 streak with a double. Trevor Larnach reached base twice and scored two runs.

The top three hitters in the Twins lineup combined for four hits, four walks and seven runs in a 7-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers Monday in their series opener at Target Field.

With the score tied at 3-3 in the fourth inning, Larnach hit a two-out single to right field. Four pitches later, Keaschall connected on a 91-mph sinker from Tigers right-hander Casey Mize and lifted it over the wall for his first home run of the season.

Royce Lewis, who reached base three times with a single and two walks, immediately jumped out of the dugout and raised his arms in celebration as Keaschall rounded the bases.

Victor Caratini added a two-out, two-run single in the eighth inning, in a 0-2 count against lefty reliever Brant Hurter, to remove some drama from the final inning.

Joe Ryan survived a 39-pitch fourth inning when he gave up three runs (two earned) to complete five innings. Ryan gave up three hits and three walks while striking out seven on a frigid 37-degree evening with a generously announced crowd of 12,569.

Four Twins relievers — Anthony Banda, Eric Orze, Kody Funderburk and Cody Laweryson — pitched four scoreless innings to secure the victory. Laweryson earned his first career save, entering in the eighth inning with a two-run lead, two runners on base and one out. Laweryson retired all five batters he faced, recording two strikeouts.

After a seven-run seventh inning during the home opener on Friday, the Twins scored two runs over their next 22 innings. That included the second inning when they left the bases loaded, an inning that started with a leadoff walk and a two-base error when Matt Vierling dropped a fly ball.

Mize struck out Matt Wallner and James Outman, sandwiched around a one-out walk, and Brooks Lee ended the inning with a flyout to Vierling.

The Twins finally ended their cold spell with a three-run third inning. Buxton, who had zero hits since March 29, opened with a leadoff double. Larnach followed with an infield single, a diving stop from second baseman Gleyber Torres that briefly saved a run, and Keaschall drew an eight-pitch walk.

After an infield pop-up, Caratini drove in the game’s first run with a sacrifice fly. Then Wallner and Lewis extended the rally with back-to-back two-out singles.

It was Wallner’s first RBI single since Aug. 3, 2025, a span of 43 games where he totaled 11 home runs, six doubles and 18 RBI, and zero run-scoring singles.

Following Keaschall’s homer in the fourth inning, the Twins wasted some chances to turn the game into a blowout. They left the bases loaded in the fifth inning when Buxton popped up to the catcher on a first-pitch changeup from reliever Drew Anderson.

The Twins loaded the bases through three consecutive walks in the eighth inning, and Caratini sent an elevated 93-mph fastball into center field to give his team a four-run lead.

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