Twins complete home-and-home sweep of Brewers
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- The Minnesota Twins used the longball against National League rival Milwaukee to put them back in the right direction.
A four-homer night backed the solid pitching of PJ Walters as the Twins beat the Brewers 8-6 for a sweep their four-game, home-and-home interleague series.
The four-game winning streak matches the longest of the season for Minnesota, which has won five of six since breaking a 10-game losing streak.
Chris Parmelee started the homer binge with a solo shot to right leading off the third. Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer went back-to-back to start the fourth, and later in the inning Ryan Doumit hit a two-run shot.
"We've put some good swings on the ball in the previous games, lineouts at some guys, sometimes we're just getting under them,'' said Parmelee. "Today we got all of them."
The Twins hit 10 homers against the Brewers, who never had a lead during the series and lost for the sixth straight time.
"We gave up a lot of home runs in this series and it killed us," said Brewers manager Ron Roenicke.
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. Four relievers held off a late surge by Milwaukee, and Jared Burton pitched a three-up, three-down ninth for his second save.
"My location was good, I was able to keep the ball down and make some quick outs," said Walters, who has won both of his starts since his recall from the minor leagues last week.
The Brewers will wind up with the fewest wins for the month of May in team history. They are 5-22 this month going into Friday's series opener at Philadelphia. The 1987 Brewers went 6-18 in May.
"It doesn't matter what the date is, these guys don't know what the date is," said Roenicke. "They just know that they're not playing good. I know we're not playing good."
All four of Minnesota's 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.
The Twins 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 American League 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.
