Twins make the most of their opportunities in win over Mariners

The Twins only got four hits off Seattle Mariners starter George Kirby Wednesday night at Target Field in Minneapolis, but they sure made sure each one made a difference. 

Three of those hits were solo home runs and the other was an RBI triple as the Twins beat the Mariners 6-3 in front of an announced home crowd of 15,685.

Willi Castro has done a little bit of everything for the Twins (21-15). He filled in for Carlos Correa at shortstop during a brief injury stint, and he’s currently taken over at center field for Byron Buxton, who’s currently on the injured list due to right knee inflammation. 

Even better for the Twins, his bat has been hot, too, and it certainly was Wednesday night. Castro hit a 432-foot solo homer to right-center field in the second inning to give the Twins a 3-0 lead, and he hit an RBI triple in the fourth to make it a 4-1 Twins advantage. 

“He’s a beast man,” Trevor Larnach said of Castro. “It seems like he does everything. He’s all over the field — infield, outfield, he’s bunting, he’s stealing, hitting homers, doubles, triples. How can you not like a guy like that? And every day he’s the same person, shows up, he’s chill, good dude, great teammate, so nothing but great things to say.”

The Twins pounced on Kirby, who entered the game with a 3.76 earned-run average, right away in the first inning when Correa and Larnach hit back-to-back solo homers for a 2-0 Twins lead.

The Mariners (20-17) did get one back when former Twin Mitch Garver hit a solo homer off Twins starter Chris Paddack during the fourth inning, but that was the only run Paddack would give up.

Paddack got through five innings of one-run ball with his pitch count rising, but he asked Twins manager Rocco Baldelli for at least one more batter. He came out for the sixth and gave up a single to Garver, but then he struck out Luis Urias before his day came to an end.

Paddack allowed eight hits while fanning 10 across 5 1/3 innings while picking up his fourth win.

Baldelli said Paddack gave them “everything we could ask for.”

“Seven singles and a solo. That’s not going to beat me,” Paddack said. “… We attacked. That was the goal going into tonight. I’m at my best whenever I pound the zone.”

Caleb Thielbar came on in relief in the sixth inning, getting the final two outs before coming back out for the seventh. His day ended after giving up a single to Julio Rodriguez, and the Mariners would later cut their deficit to one when Cal Raleigh hit a two-RBI double off reliever Griffin Jax. 

Ryan Jeffers hit an eighth-inning double down the third-base line off Mariners reliever Cody Bolton that scored Edouard Julien, who singled earlier in the frame. The next at-bat, Max Kepler hit another RBI double off the right-center field wall that scored Jeffers.

“Our offense has shown up,” Baldelli said. “You can’t just kind of pace your way through these games and think you’re gonna, ‘Eh, if we just have decent at-bats it’ll work.’ You have to have an exceptional plan when you’re going up there and know what you’re trying to do.

“… You’re not going to face better pitching in a four-game set, everyone you see is — if you’re not ready, it’s not going to work. But our guys have continually up and down the lineup gotten the job done.”

That gave the Twins some breathing room with a 6-3 advantage.

Not that they needed it. Jhoan Duran sent the top of the Mariners lineup down in order in the ninth to close out the game and pick up the save, his third of the season.

The two teams meet again for the series finale at 12:10 p.m. Thursday.