Ryan Jeffers (2 HRs, 4 RBIs), Twins demolish D-backs 12-1

Ryan Jeffers went 3-for-4 with two home runs and a double and four RBIs as the Minnesota Twins cruised to their third consecutive victory, 12-1, over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night in Minneapolis.

Max Kepler went 4-for-5 including a tape-measure homer and Michael A. Taylor homered for the third straight game for Minnesota, which increased its American League Central lead to 3 1/2 games over Cleveland while pounding out 17 hits.

Matt Wallner doubled and had three hits, Willi Castro had an RBI triple and Edouard Julien also had three hits for the Twins, who won for the fourth time in the last five games.

Kenta Maeda (3-6) picked up the win allowing one run on two hits over six innings. He struck out five and retired the final 14 batters he faced.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. homered for Arizona, which lost its fifth straight game. Ryne Nelson (6-6) suffered the loss, allowing six runs on eight hits over three innings.

Arizona took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on Gurriel Jr.'s third home run in five games and 18th of the season.

The Twins went ahead 3-1 in the bottom of the second. Wallner led off with a single and scored on a triple into the right-center-field gap by Castro. Jeffers followed with a two-run homer into the bleachers in right-center.

Minnesota extended the lead to 6-1 in the third on RBI doubles by Wallner and Jeffers sandwiched around a sacrifice fly by Castro.

Taylor led off the fourth with his 15th homer off the foul pole in right to make it 7-1. Later in the inning, Carlos Correa grounded into a fielder's choice to drive in Julien, who had singled.

Jeffers lined his eighth home run of the season with one out in the fifth to make it 9-1. Kepler hit his 17th homer in the sixth, a 435-foot drive into the restaurant above the batter's eye in center, to extend the lead to 10-1.

The Twins added a pair of runs in the eighth against position player Carson Kelly on RBI singles by Jordan Luplow and Wallner.