MINNEAPOLIS _ Seattle pitcher Yusei Kukuchi slowed down the juggernaut that is the Twins offense for five innings on Thursday. And everything changed when he left the game.
With Kukuchi in the dugout after five strong innings, the Twins scored six runs in the sixth on their way to a 10-5 win over the Mariners to take two games of the three-game series at Target Field.
The Twins improved to 12-5-1 in series of at least three games. They are 17-4 in games following a loss. And they now prepare for a weekend series against Kansas City in which all three games could be sold out.
Nelson Cruz was 3 for 4 with a home run and three RBI, Ehire Adrianza was 3 for 5, and Jorge Polanco was 2 for 6 and has hits in 14 consecutive games, a career high.
The Twins sent 11 men to the plate in the sixth as they broke the game open. Cruz had the key hit in the inning, a two-run seeing-eye single to left that drove in Jason Castro and Byron Buxton as the Twins took a 5-1 lead. Max Kepler later hit a two-run single of his own, and the Twins led 7-1.
C.J. Cron's 15th home run, a two-run shot to left, was part of a three-run eighth that put the Twins ahead 10-1.
Twins right-hander Michael Pineda eased his way through the Mariners lineup, retiring 11 of 12 batters before giving up Seattle's first hit of the game, a double by Daniel Vogelbach in the fourth. He promptly retired the next six batters he faced.
Pineda was more than effective, as his fastball averaged 93 miles per hour and topped out at 96 to go with an increasingly reliable slider and changeup.
He carried a 1-0 lead into the sixth inning when he was relieved after giving up a two-out single and walk. Ryne Harper (2-0) replaced Pineda _ and the game was tied two pitches later on an RBI single by Vogelbach.
The Twins only led 1-0 because the left-handed Kukuchi was tough to figure out. They had two men on with one out in the first but Kukuchi got Marwin Gonzalez to hit into a double play. They loaded the bases with no outs in the second but Kukuchi bowed his back, striking out Castro and Buxton then getting Polanco to hit into a force play to end the inning.
Cruz got the Twins on the board in the third inning with a homer to right that tied the game. Cruz, who has hit five home runs in his last seven games, got around on a slider that was barreling in on the inside corner of the plate.
The game drew 31,912.
