Backups played a big role in helping the Minnesota Twins take two of three games over the Toronto Blue Jays, winning the series finale Sunday 8-6.
Luis Arraez went 4-for-4 in increase his batting average to .358, which as of Sunday evening was the best in the majors, two points ahead of Chicago’s now-injured Tim Anderson.
Minnesota scored three runs in the first and two more in the second and then piled on with home runs by Trevor Larnach and Gary Sanchez in the seventh and eighth innings. Jose Miranda also stayed hot with two hits, and Gilberto Celestino collected three hits while starting in place of Byron Buxton.
Miranda has increased his batting average by 108 points since seeing his early-season slump drop his average to .094. He’s had two hits in seven of his last 10 games during that surge.
Taking the series in Toronto gives the Twins a bit of momentum ahead of a three-game series in Minneapolis against the red-hot New York Yankees starting Tuesday.
Minnesota will get Max Kepler and a trio of relievers – Emilio Pagan, Caleb Thielbar and Trevor Megill – back for the Yankees series. The four weren’t allowed to travel to Toronto because of vaccination laws in Canada.
