Pablo Lopez fans 11, Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa homer as Twins crush Orioles

Pablo Lopez was dealing, Carlos Correa hit a towering two-run homer in a five-run third inning and the Minnesota Twins posted their third consecutive victory, beating the Baltimore Orioles 9-1 Tuesday night at Target Field in Minneapolis.

The Twins (16-20) broke the game wide open in the third inning that included four straight and five total hits. Byron Buxton pushed the first run across with an RBI double, Ryan Jeffers hit a two-run single the next at-bat and Correa followed up with a monster 458-foot, two-run homer that gave Minnesota a 5-0 lead. It matched his longest homer in a Twins uniform.

Lopez, meanwhile, was lights out through five innings, his lone blemish coming in the fourth inning when he gave up an RBI double to Ryan Mountcastle, the lone run for the Orioles (13-21). And that was one of just two hits Lopez allowed while issuing just one walk and fanning 11. He threw 98 pitches total and lowered his earned-run average to 2.18 on the year.

Royce Lewis made his debut for the Twins after returning from injury, batting fifth as the designated hitter. He went 0 for 4, reaching base once on an Orioles fielding error. He didn't strike out.

The Twins added four insurance runs in the seventh inning when Byron Buxton hit a three-run homer and Correa hit an RBI single. Correa finished his day 3 for 4 with three RBIs.

The Twins and Orioles meet again for a 6:40 p.m. CT first pitch on Wednesday at Target Field.