BALTIMORE (AP) — DaShawn Keirsey Jr. and Byron Buxton hit Minnesota's first back-to-back homers this season, Chris Paddack pitched seven shutout innings and the Twins extended their winning streak to 11 games with a 4-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday.
The win streak is the fourth-longest in Twins history. The record is 15 straight in 1991. They had a 12-game winning streak last season. The Twins swept the season series 6-0 after being swept by the Orioles 6-0 last year.
After the homers gave the Twins a 3-0 lead in the top of the third, center fielder Buxton and shortstop Carlos Correa collided while chasing a shallow fly ball that Buxton caught. Correa left the game while Buxton stayed in before exiting in the fourth. The team said both were in concussion protocol.
Paddack gave up three hits and one walk. He struck out three. Louis Varland and Jhoan Duran finished up the Twins' third shutout this season.
Since giving up nine runs in his season opener, Paddack has posted a 2.51 ERA over eight starts and pitched seven or more innings in consecutive starts for the first time in his seven-year MLB career.
Willi Castro and Royce Lewis had two hits each with Lewis reaching 500 for his career.
Tomoyuki Sugano (4-3) went 6 1/3 innings, giving up four runs on six hits and a walk while striking out three.
Ryan O'Hearn had two hits for the Orioles.
Key moment
After the first two Orioles reached in the fifth, Paddack struck out O’Hearn and Cedric Mullins and then retired Emmanuel Rivera on a ground out.
Key stat
The Orioles have allowed 65 homers this season, most in the majors.
Up next
Joe Ryan (3-2, 2.74) pitches for Minnesota against Milwaukee's Chad Patrick (2-3, 3.19) and Baltimore's Kyle Gibson (2-4, 3.59) will face Washington's MacKenzie Gore (0-2, 13.11) on Friday.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
The Associated Press
