Edouard Julien homered off former Auburn teammate Casey Mize, Byron Buxton also went deep and the Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers 5-1 Sunday to stop a three-game losing streak.
Buxton and Ty France had two hits apiece for Minnesota, which won for just the second time in eight games.
Simeon Woods Richardson (1-1) allowed one run and five hits with five strikeouts, and Louis Varland, Cole Sands, Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran each followed with a hitless inning, combining for seven strikeouts and one walk.
"It's a very good version of our club," said Twins manager Rocco Baldelli. "That's what our club looks like. This is the way that we play. That's a game that I've seen many times before from this group, and that's the game we're looking for. And we want to play a whole lot of games like that."
Spencer Torkelson homered for the second straight game and Kerry Carpenter had two hits for Detroit, which had won seven of eight.
Mize (2-1) gave up four runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings.
Minnesota led 2-1 in the sixth when Julien hit an opposite-field home run off the left field foul pole for his first home run this season. Buxton doubled and, three batters later, France hit an RBI single on a chopper up the middle.
Buxton’s homer in the first and Brooks Lee’s run-scoring single in the second built a 2-0 lead. Lee was playing his first game this season after recovering from a back strain.
"So good. Obviously, just not, ball falling our way in the past few games, to be able to come out and play a clean game the way we did," Buxton said after the game. "It was fun, you know? We had a little bit of energy today that I don't think we had past, recent games and I think it was just everybody being themselves and just kind of taking a deep breath and realizing who we are."
Infielder José Miranda, hitting .167 with 13 strikeouts, was optioned to Triple-A St. Paul, one day after he failed to run hard from first to second on a potential forceout, costing an out when second baseman Colt Keith failed to touch the base.
Up Next: Twins: RHP Joe Ryan (1-1, 2.65) starts Monday's series opener against the New York Mets and RHP Clay Holmes (1-1, 4,30).
Twins-Mets Preview
New York Mets (10-5, first in the NL East) vs. Minnesota Twins (5-11, fourth in the AL Central)
Minneapolis; Monday, 6:40 p.m. Pregame 6:00 p.m. on 830 WCCO and the Audacy app (in-market restrictions apply).
PITCHING PROBABLES: Mets: Holmes (1-1, 4.30 ERA, 1.71 WHIP, 20 strikeouts); Twins: Ryan (1-1, 2.65 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, 15 strikeouts)
Tuesday: Megill (Mets), Ober (Twins)
Wednesday: Canning (Mets), Festa (Twins)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Twins -116, Mets -104; over/under is 8 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Minnesota Twins host the New York Mets to start a three-game series.
Minnesota has a 5-11 record overall and a 2-4 record in home games. The Twins have a 4-7 record in games when they have given up at least one home run.
New York has gone 5-4 on the road and 10-5 overall. The Mets are 7-2 in games when they did not give up a home run.
The teams meet Monday for the first time this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Willi Castro has five doubles and a home run for the Twins. Byron Buxton is 9-for-39 with three doubles and three home runs over the past 10 games.
Brandon Nimmo has three doubles and four home runs for the Mets. Pete Alonso is 14-for-36 with six doubles and three home runs over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Twins: 3-7, .223 batting average, 2.97 ERA, outscored by one run
Mets: 8-2, .232 batting average, 2.27 ERA, outscored opponents by 17 runs
INJURIES: Twins: Pablo Lopez: 15-Day IL (hamstring), Brock Stewart: 15-Day IL (hamstring), Royce Lewis: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Michael Tonkin: 15-Day IL (shoulder)
Mets: Jose Siri: day-to-day (shin), Paul Blackburn: 15-Day IL (knee), Francisco Alvarez: 10-Day IL (wrist), Ronny Mauricio: 10-Day IL (knee), Jeff McNeil: 10-Day IL (oblique), Sean Manaea: 15-Day IL (oblique), Frankie Montas: 15-Day IL (lat), Nick Madrigal: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Drew Smith: 60-Day IL (elbow), Christian Scott: 60-Day IL (elbow)