Twins win five of six on road trip and return to Target Field firmly in the playoff hunt

The Twins swept three games in Texas, then took two of three in Arizona, before returning home on Monday to host the defending world champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The Twins have won seven of their last 10.

The Twins got a 4-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday, after an offensive explosion in Saturday's game, a 16-8 drubbing of the Diamondbacks highlighted by a grand slam from the Twins Byron Buxton.

The Twins bats have really come alive, with Buxton, Brooks Lee and Trevor Larnach having good showings. Recently promoted from AAA St. Paul after what the Twins called "a reset" for Royce Lewis, he's been hitting better as well.

"If you would have said coming into the year, this was going to be an offense that has like top five run production in baseball, which they have right now, Ryan Jeffers would be hurt, Royce Lewis and Matt Wallner would have had trips to the minor leagues, Luke Keaschall didn't get off to the greatest of starts, I feel like they haven't had a ton of things go right offensively, like big picture wise," says Twins Star Tribune beat writer Bobby Nightengale Jr. "But they've still been able to score a ton of runs. I mean, Brooks Lee's bounced back in a pretty significant way, Trevor Larnach's been as good as he's been, Austin Martin had a great start before he kind of cooled off lately."

It gets tougher over the next three games, however.

The Dodgers once again sport the best record in the National League, and a 9-game lead in the NL West. As usual with LA, it starts with Shohei Ohtani who is once again doing it at the plate and on the mound. Ohtani is hitting nearly .300 with 16 home runs and 43 runs batted in, and dominating on as a pitcher with a 7-2 record and a sparkling 1.47 ERA.

Ohtani is expected to start Wednesday's game in Minnesota, which is sure to draw one of the largest crowds at Target Field so far this season.

"At least they picked a good time to be playing their best baseball because they're going to need it against a really good Dodgers team," Nightengale told Vineeta Sawkar on the WCCO MOrning News. "But, it'll be fun to see just how they measure up. Seeing Shoe Ohtani pitch, I mean, this is the best two-way player in baseball history and I've never gotten a chance to see him pitch in person. I think that'll bring a nice atmosphere to the ballpark, and I think they're expecting 30,000-plus at each game. So, it should be fun to see kind of what Target Field is doing all week."

After the Dodgers, the Twins host the struggling Rockies for three games at Target Field.

Los Angeles Dodgers (49-29, first in the NL West) vs. Minnesota Twins (38-41, third in the AL Central)

Minneapolis; Monday, 6:40 p.m. Pregame at 6:00 p.m. on 830 WCCO and the Audacy App (in-market only)

PITCHING PROBABLES: Dodgers: Eric Lauer (2-5, 5.37 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 40 strikeouts); Twins: Zebby Matthews (3-4, 4.78 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 34 strikeouts)

LINE: Dodgers -158, Twins +129; over/under is 9 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Minnesota Twins play the Los Angeles Dodgers after Brooks Lee's four-hit game on Saturday.

Minnesota has a 38-41 record overall and a 20-19 record in home games. The Twins have a 7-11 record in games decided by one run.

Los Angeles is 49-29 overall and 23-15 on the road. The Dodgers have hit 105 total home runs to rank third in the majors.

The teams meet Monday for the first time this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Byron Buxton has 24 home runs, 22 walks and 40 RBIs while hitting .275 for the Twins. Trevor Larnach is 14 for 37 with two doubles, two home runs and seven RBIs over the last 10 games.

Freddie Freeman has 17 doubles, a triple and 12 home runs for the Dodgers. Shohei Ohtani is 8 for 31 with a double and five home runs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Twins: 7-3, .306 batting average, 5.63 ERA, outscored opponents by 12 runs

Dodgers: 6-4, .227 batting average, 4.91 ERA, outscored by eight runs

INJURIES: Twins: Bailey Ober: 15-Day IL (elbow), Cole Sands: 15-Day IL (forearm), Mick Abel: 15-Day IL (elbow), David Festa: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Garrett Acton: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Ryan Jeffers: 10-Day IL (hand), Pablo Lopez: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Dodgers: Blake Treinen: 15-Day IL (elbow), Bobby Miller: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Brock Stewart: 15-Day IL (foot), Evan Phillips: 60-Day IL (elbow), Will Smith: 10-Day IL (neck), Teoscar Hernandez: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Gavin Stone: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Ben Casparius: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Tyler Glasnow: 60-Day IL (back), Brusdar Graterol: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Blake Snell: 60-Day IL (elbow), Kike Hernandez: 10-Day IL (oblique), Landon Knack: 60-Day IL (chest), Edwin Diaz: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jake Cousins: 60-Day IL (elbow)