MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins hit six homers, including a pair by Miguel Sano, to overcome a three-run deficit and back right-hander Ervin Santana in a 10-3 win over the D-backs in Friday night's Interleague series opener at Target Field.
With the win the Twins moved into a tie with the Angels for the second American League Wild Card spot. Meanwhile, the D-backs fell one game behind the Rockies in the race for the top National League Wild Card spot and their lead over the Cardinals shrunk to four games for the second spot.
Byron Buxton paced the offense, going 3-for-4 and missing hitting the cycle by a single. Buxton's homer was an inside-the-park one, while Sano, Max Kepler, Eduardo Escobar and James Dozier all went over the fence. In the case of Kepler and Sano, theirs went way over as both traveled 440 feet, according to Statcast™.

"It was an extremely fun baseball game," Minnesota manager Paul Molitor said. "Inside-the-park home run is as exciting play our game can offer. And when you have one of the fastest players in the game to do it, it was really a boost for us. Then the long balls, the real long balls, started to come."
Sano's second homer hit the facing of the third deck and traveled 469 feet, which was his longest home run since Statcast™ starting tracking at the start of 2015. Sano became just the second player to hit multiple homers in a single game that traveled at least 440 feet. The only other player to accomplish the feat was teammate Eddie Rosario, who did so with a pair of 440-foot shots June 13.

Santana (13-7) overcame a rough beginning and retired 10 in a row at one point as he lasted six-plus innings. D-backs starter Zack Godley (5-6) fanned 10, but allowed four runs over 5 1/3 innings.

The D-backs grabbed a 3-0 lead thanks to a pair of runs in the first and a solo home from David Peralta in the second.
"They gave me an early lead and I just couldn't hang onto it," Godley said.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Scoring in a flash: Buxton collected his second career inside-the-park homer to lead off the fourth. His drive to center hit off the wall and bounced away from outfielder A.J. Pollock. Buxton circled the bases in 13.85 seconds, the fastest recorded since Statcast™ was introduced in 2015, and slid headfirst into home plate just ahead of the tag.
"It was amazing, especially when the fans get into it and back you up," Buxton said. "That pushed us and changed the momentum of the game."

Stranded: The D-backs had a golden opportunity to do some damage in the seventh when Gregor Blanco drew a leadoff walk and Peralta followed with a single to right. The Twins went to their bullpen and Trevor Hildenberger got Pollock to ground into a double play and Jake Lamb to pop out to end the threat. It was the second straight inning Arizona had the first two runners on and wound up with nothing to show for it.

"I think those are some key moments where we probably came out of the zone and didn't create the opportunities we would hope for," D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said on the two missed chances. More >

QUOTABLE
"There are a few guys, the guy in Cincinnati -- [Billy Hamilton]. I go back to my era and there are guys like Willie Wilson and Bo Jackson. There are some people that when they get going -- it's hard to compare at that speed, but I don't know if many guys come close to that time from home-to-home." -- Molitor, on how Buxton's speed compares to other players

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Dozier clubbed a solo shot in the eighth, marking his 24th homer of the season and 141st of his career. He tied Michael Cuddyer -- who will join the Twins Hall of Fame on Saturday -- for 10th-most in team history.

WHAT'S NEXT
D-backs:Zack Greinke will look to keep his winning ways going when he takes the mound Saturday at 4:10 p.m. MST against the Twins at Target Field. Greinke is 6-1 with a 2.78 ERA over his past nine starts. He beat the Astros his last time out.
Twins:Jose Berrios (10-5, 4.27 ERA) is slated to start for Minnesota at 6:10 p.m. CT. Berrios allowed six runs on as many hits in 3 1/3 innings against Detroit in his last start. Berrios has allowed five runs in the first inning in each of his past two starts.
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