Twins 8, Brewers 6
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.-- P.J. Walters was terrific for six innings and the Minnesota Twins homered four times for an 8-6 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday, completing a sweep of their four-game, home-and-home interleague series.
Chris Parmelee led off the third inning with a home run, and Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer homered in back-to-back at-bats to start the fourth before Ryan Doumit hit a two-run shot later in the fourth.
All four homers came off struggling Brewers starter Kyle Lohse, who was facing his former team for the first time in the regular season. Lohse (1-6) has lost five straight decisions and has pitched past the sixth inning just twice in his last seven starts.
Walters (2-0), who began the season with Triple-A Rochester, didn't allow a run until Logan Shafer's bases-loaded triple in the sixth. He allowed four runs on 10 hits, striking out four and walking one.
Milwaukee put some late pressure on the Twins' bullpen, but came up short in their sixth straight loss. Jared Burton pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save of the year.
The Twins have won four in a row and five of six. They completed just their second season series sweep over the Brewers, and first since taking both meetings in 1999.
Lohse, who was trying to become the 13th pitcher to beat all 30 major league teams, allowed the leadoff man to reach every inning before he was pulled with two outs in the fifth. The Twins finally broke through when Parmelee homered to start off the third.
The Twins built the lead to 5-0 with the three homers in the fourth.
Lohse allowed six runs on eight hits.
The Brewers never led in the four-game series against their AL rival and continued their month-long futility at the plate.
It was the second consecutive strong outing for Walters since his recall from the minors last week. He pitched six innings in his first start last Saturday in Detroit, picking up the win.
NOTES: Twins SS Trevor Plouffe went on the 15-day disabled list one day after he was reinstated from the seven-day concussion DL. Plouffe suffered a strained left calf while running sprints prior to Wednesday's game. Taking his place again on the roster is INF Chris Colabello, who was 1-for-11 when he subbed for Plouffe earlier this month. ... For Turn Back the Clock Night, the Twins and Brewers wore the uniforms of the 1948 Saint Paul Saints and Milwaukee Brewers, who finished second and third that year in the minor league American Association. ... The Twins' three-homer fourth inning was the first time they've had three homers in an inning since Aug. 6, 2012, at Cleveland when Josh Willingham, Justin Morneau and Doumit connected in the second inning. ... The worst record for May in Brewers history was a 6-18 mark in 1987. They are 5-22 for the month this season.
