Luke Keaschall drove in three runs for the second straight game and the Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers 9-4 on Wednesday.
Keaschell is hitting .393 in his nine-game major league career, which was interrupted in April by a broken arm. He returned on Tuesday and has four hits and six RBIs in his first two games back.
Thomas Hatch (1-0) picked up the win with 4 1/3 scoreless innings of relief. He was claimed off waivers on Monday from the Kansas City Royals.
Jack Flaherty (6-11) took the loss, giving up six runs in 4 2/3 innings.
The Twins took a 2-0 lead in the first. Alan Roden and Matt Wallner started the game with singles, and Keaschall drove them in with a two-out double. Keaschall had three RBIs in Tuesday's 6-3 win, including his first career homer.
"Guys are going up there, just winning, winning at bats, trying to go up there and, objectively having a good idea of what they're doing, trying to just win the at-bat," Twins Manager Rocco Baldelli said after the win. "Just try to beat the pitcher, you know, head to head. And we did that today over and over again. We faced a good team and a good starter today. One of the better pitchers in the league and we came ready to go. Up and down the lineup, it was great to see."
Minnesota made it 3-0 in the second when Brooks Lee scored on a wild pitch, but Spencer Torkelson's 24th homer narrowed the game to two runs in the bottom of the inning.
Zach McKinstry pulled the Tigers within one with a leadoff homer in the third and Kerry Carpenter's two-run shot put Detroit ahead 4-3 later in the inning.
Lee homered in the fourth and the Twins took a 6-4 lead on RBI doubles by Ryan Jeffers and Keaschall in the fifth. Austin Martin and Roden homered off Tyler Holton in the sixth.
Baldelli, like anyone watching Keaschall so far, is impressed with his bat. But after Wednesday's game, he noted how much he was enjoying watching the young Twin play defense.
"Yeah, he plays it with grit," says Baldelli. "He'll throw his body in front of a ball to just get it to the ground if he has to. He'll slide, I mean, he's going to end up dirty on most days. But he plays it with confidence and for a guy that's coming off of what he's coming off of, and the rehab and the arm care work that he's put in to be able to go out there and just complete the plays? He make the plays and it says a lot about him. He's a hard working guy."
Key moment
The Tigers had runners on first and third with one out in the eighth and their 3-4-5 hitters due up. A.J. Hinch sent Jahmai Jones in to hit for Carpenter and Kody Funderburke got him to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Key stat
Keaschall has reached base in his first nine career games, the second-longest streak in Twins history. Glenn Williams reached in his first 13 games in 2005.
Up next
Each team is off on Thursday before starting weekend home series on Friday. Twins ace RHP Joe Ryan (10-5, 2.83) is scheduled to start against the Kansas City Royals at Target Field for a brief three-game homestand.