MINNEAPOLIS _ Byron Buxton, of all people, kept the Twins' home run streak alive on Tuesday. Unfortunately, so did the Twins' pitching staff.
Buxton's blast to center field in the fourth inning allowed the 2017 Twins to tie their 1979 brethren with 16 consecutive games with a home run. But Gerardo Perra connected off Phil Hughes and Charlie Blackmon off Tyler Duffey, and that combination produced a 7-3 victory for the Colorado Rockies at Target Field.
There's a home run streak at work there, too: Twins pitchers have given up a long ball in 10 consecutive home games, which isn't a record _ heck, it's the sixth time they've reached double digits in Target Field's eight seasons _ but it is troubling. Tuesday's loss in their interleague opener was the fourth time in five home games that the Twins have allowed seven or more runs, and they've given up a dozen homers in those games.
Hughes pitched reasonable well, if a bit unlucky, in his second career start against Colorado, allowing a number of softly struck base hits, including Blackmon's popup down the right field line that fell for an RBI single in the second inning. But there was little doubt about Parra's home run in the fourth inning, which cleared the seating area in right field and bounced onto the plate behind. Hughes also allowed a run to score in the sixth; following a Carlos Gomez double off the wall, Ian Desmond followed with a half-swing that sliced a soft single just inside the right field line to break a 3-3 tie.
Duffey relieved, and after getting two ground outs, surrendered a double that right fielder Robbie Grossman bobbled, allowing another run to score. And Blackmon followed with a home run to right-center, giving the Rockies some breathing room.
That was all the runs that Colorado would need, because left-hander Kyle Freeland held the Twins to 2-for-9 hitting with runners in scoring position. Jason Castro and Brian Dozier each contributed RBI doubles in the second inning off Freeland, and Buxton, in a 1-for-14 slump his last four games, connected off Freeland with a drive over the center field fence in the fourth inning.
That's 16 straight games with a home run, and it's carried the Twins to a 10-6 record over that span. Not that manager Paul Molitor expects the Twins to turn into the 1927 Yankees or anything.
"It's just one of those strange things that happen in baseball," Molitor said of the home-run streak. "We've got a lot of guys who have contributed to that streak, including [shortstop Jorge] Polanco the other day. But we're still all about trying to take good at-bats.
"We hit it over the fence now and then _ it's a really a nice addition to your offense as a whole," Molitor added. "I wouldn't say that we put a lot of fear in other teams with our power, up and down the lineup, but we hopefully have guys that we know are going to grind out their at-bats."
