Twins 20, Tigers 6: Eduardo Escobar went 5-for-6 with a two-run homer and Danny Santana homered and had four RBIs as host Minnesota stomped Detroit in the opener of a four-game series.

Escobar finished a double shy of the cycle while Oswaldo Arcia and Trevor Plouffe also homered and drove in three runs apiece as the Twins rolled up a season-high run total in beating the Tigers at home for only the 10th time in 31 meetings. Joe Mauer added two hits and also had three RBIs while Ryan Pressly (2-0) picked up the victory with two-thirds of an inning in relief.

Ian Kinsler homered and Victor Martinez and Nick Castellanos each had two hits and an RBI for Detroit, which fell 2 1/2 games behind first-place Kansas City in the American League Central and one-half game back of Seattle for the second wild card. Robbie Ray (1-4) was shelled for six runs in 1 1/3 innings to lose his fourth straight start and shortstop Andrew Romine surrendered a pair of homers in the eighth.

Minnesota battered Ray in the second inning with three straight doubles before Escobar and Santana launched two-run shots to cap the uprising for a 6-1 lead. The Tigers capitalized on a one-out error by Escobar in the fifth and strung together consecutive RBI hits from Victor Martinez, J.D. Martinez and Castellanos before Bryan Holaday's sacrifice fly cut the deficit to 6-5.

The Twins responded by sending 15 men to the plate in a nine-run sixth, loading the bases against reliever Jim Johnson on Escobar's leadoff triple and a pair of walks before Dozier singled in a run. Ian Krol came on and was greeted by Joe Mauer's two-run single before errors by Kinsler and Castellanos led to three more runs and Santana's two-run single made it 14-5.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Santana also had four RBIs against the Chicago White Sox on Aug. 3, but drove in only one run in the following 16 games. ... Kinsler's blast was the first leadoff homer in a game for Detroit since ex-Tiger Austin Jackson went deep off Twins RHP Sam Deduno on Sept 22, 2012. ... Twins LHP Tommy Milone, who entered 3-0 lifetime against Detroit, was staked to a 6-1 lead but lasted only 4 1/3 innings and allowed five runs - three earned - and 10 hits.