Willians Astudillo drove in four runs, Tyler Austin knocked in three more and the Minnesota Twins thumped the visiting Detroit Tigers 9-3 on Thursday night.

Astudillo, a rookie catcher, had two hits and scored a run. Through 26 games, Astudillo is hitting .357 with 19 RBIs. Austin contributed a pair of doubles and scored twice for the Twins. Logan Forsythe and Robbie Grossman each scored two runs and Jorge Polanco had three hits.

Stephen Gonsalves (2-2) gave up two runs on three hits in 3 1/3 innings and collected the victory. Minnesota's bullpen held Detroit scoreless after the second inning.

The Twins won two games in the three-game series after sweeping a three-game road series against the Tigers last week.

Christin Stewart supplied three hits and drove in a run to lead Detroit. Tigers starter Francisco Liriano (5-12) gave up four runs on three hits in 2 2/3 innings. He was removed due to lower back tightness.

The Tigers scored a run in the first on a sacrifice fly by Nicholas Castellanos.

Detroit made it 3-0 in the second. After loading the bases with two walks and a single, Jeimer Candelario's fielder's choice brought in one run and Stewart's bloop single knocked in the other.

Minnesota gained the lead with a five-run third. Gregorio Petit and Joe Mauer hit back-to-back doubles for the first run. With two out, Liriano walked Forsythe and Grossman and then came out of the game.

Louis Coleman relieved him and immediately gave up Austin's two-run double down the left-field line. Astudillo then bounced a single through the hole, bringing in two more runs.

The Tigers loaded the bases with one out in the fifth, but Matt Magill responded by striking out Grayson Greiner looking and JaCoby Jones swinging.

Minnesota tacked on four runs in the bottom of the fifth against Matt Hall. Austin's ground-rule double scored the first run of the frame. Astudillo doubled down the left-field line, plating two more runners. Max Kepler singled home Astudillo to make it 9-3.

--Field Level Media