Twins win again to extend streak to 11

MLB HIGHLIGHTS

The Twins’ DaShawn Keirsey Jr. celebrates with Royce Lewis after hitting a two-run home run in the third inning against the Baltimore Orioles. Mitchell Layton / Getty Images

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DaShawn Keirsey Jr. and Byron Buxton hit Minnesota’s first back-to-back homers this season, Chris Paddack (2-3) pitched seven shutout innings and the visiting 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.

Reds 7, White Sox 1: Elly De La Cruz, Will Benson and Matt McLain homered, Nick Martinez (2-4) pitched seven shutout innings and host Cincinnati snapped a three-game losing streak with a win over Chicago.

The Reds came in averaging 2.4 runs over their previous 10 games. They won Thursday for just the third time in 12 games.

Braves 5, Nationals 2: AJ Smith-Shawver (3-2) allowed only two hits and no earned runs in six strong innings, Nick Allen drove in a run with two hits and host Atlanta beat Washington.

The Braves won three of four games in the series, leaving the Nationals with eight losses in their past nine games. Washington snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 5-4 comeback win on Wednesday night.

C.J. Abrams had two hits, including a homer, for Washington.

Rays 8, Blue Jays 3: Josh Lowe had a homer among his three hits in his first game since getting injured on opening day, Brandon Lowe homered twice and visiting Tampa Bay defeated Toronto.

Josh Lowe scored on Brandon Lowe’s sixth and seventh homers of the season and hit his first of the season in the fifth inning.

Kemp retiring: Tony Kemp is calling it a career. The veteran utility player announced his retirement on social media Thursday after nine seasons in the majors.

The 5-foot-6 Kemp hit .237 with 35 home runs and 184 RBIs in 739 games for the Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs, Oakland Athletics and Baltimore Orioles.

Kemp broke in with the Astros in 2016, three years after the club selected him in the fifth round of the 2013 amateur draft out of Vanderbilt.