Dylan Bundy said his job was simple once it became obvious Minnesota’s offense was going to have a big day.
Get your teammates back to the plate as quickly as possible.
The veteran right-hander turned in an efficient eight innings as the Twins built a big lead early, and Minnesota cruised to an 11-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night.
"Your defense doesn’t want to be sitting out there, especially when they’re itching to get back up to bat."Bundy said.
The Twins surged ahead for a 6-0 lead with their big third inning, highlighted by a mammoth two-out, two-run homer by Gary Sanchez that traveled 456 feet into the left-center seats and left his bat at more than 107 mph. . It was the eighth home run of the season for the two-time All-Star.
Alex Kirilloff, recently recalled from Triple-A, added a two-run double. The Twins did extensive offensive damage even without star slugger Byron Buxton, who had a scheduled day off.
"We made very good adjustments tonight, quickly"Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "It’s nice to see good quality at-bats, hit balls, stacking on top of each other and turning into runs.".
Ryan Jeffers added a two-run homer in the seventh that made it 11-1. Every Twins starter had at least one hit.
Bundy (4-3) retired the first 10 batters he faced before Alek Thomas bounced a single into the middle of the infield.
It was a much-needed outing for the veteran right-hander, who gave up four hits, struck out seven and walked none. He entered the game with a 5.87 ERA and had given up 13 earned runs in his previous 12 1/3 innings.
Bundy said he tried to keep the same approach throughout the game, even after a big lead was pushed.
"You just try not to think about it"Bundy said. "You throw strikes, command the ball and work ahead".
It was a tough night for D-backs starter Luke Weaver (1-1), who gave up nine earned runs on 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out five.
Weaver was making his first start of the season after two relief appearances. The right-hander missed the first two months of the season with elbow inflammation. He was once seen as a future cornerstone of the D-backs’ rotation, but he hasn’t been able to recapture the success he had in 2019 when he posted a 2.94 ERA in 12 starts.
D-backs infielder Jake Hager made his third pitching appearance of the season, pitching a scoreless ninth. Arizona scored its only run when Carson Kelly brought home David Peralta on a sacrifice fly in the fifth.