MINNEAPOLIS — As they beat up on two lesser opponents in late April and earlier this month, it was only natural to wonder whether or not the Minnesota Twins’ offense could keep it up once the competition improved.

Guess we have our answer.

Similar to how they steamrolled the Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Angels, the Twins kept up their torrid pace against two of baseball’s top three pitching staffs at home this past week.

The Twins finished an outstanding homestand by manhandling the Seattle Mariners 11-1 at Target Field on Thursday afternoon to win for the 15th time in 17 contests. Manny Margot drove in five runs and Max Kepler and Ryan Jeffers each homered for the Twins, who won five of seven games against Seattle and the Boston Red Sox.

Once 7-13, the Twins are now 22-15.

“(Thursday) was all about the offense,” Twins starting pitcher Pablo López said. “Everyone knows how good the pitching for the Seattle Mariners is and they were matched up against a tough guy (Thursday). He had been dominating, so the way they were able to put at-bats (together) and make things happen, my mindset was like, ‘How can I do my job fast to bring the boys back in the dugout as soon as possible?’ They made it fun.”

Following a horrific start to the season, it was all fun and games for the Twins’ offense when paired against Chicago and Los Angeles. In 10 games against the two, the Twins outscored their opponents 76-36, compared to scoring 67 runs over their first 20 contests.

But with Boston and Seattle coming to town, the Twins would get a much better test to determine exactly how much their bats recovered. Though they couldn’t quite keep up their previous output, the Twins looked strong against both clubs, which entered their series with the first- and second-ranked staff earned-run averages in baseball.

Facing Seattle’s Logan Gilbert on Thursday, the Twins immediately put it all together against the American League’s ERA leader.

With runners on the corners and one out in the first inning, Kepler extended his career-high hitting streak to 11 games with an RBI single. Two batters after Jose Miranda loaded the bases with a single, Margot cleared them with a two-out double down the left-field line. Not only did the Twins suddenly have a bunch of breathing room, but the moment provided a much-needed release for Margot, who carried a .464 OPS into the game.

Most underrated player: Ryan Jeffers.#MNTwins #WeBelieveInTC #MLB pic.twitter.com/5HJYnsVc1g

— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) May 9, 2024

Margot drove in two more runs on groundouts, giving him nine RBIs for the season.

“It hasn’t been a great start to the season for me, but I’m confident in myself and I’m healthy which is the most important thing,” Margot said. “(We knew) getting the lead in the first inning was going to be good for the team.”

Carlos Santana capped off the shocking inning with a two-out RBI single to drive in Margot and make it 5-0. After Seattle scored a run in the second following a dropped fly for a double, the Twins got the run back as Jeffers smacked his eighth homer of the season.

But the Twins didn’t stop there, adding two more runs in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Edouard Julien and a Jeffers sac fly. They added a run in the fifth on Margot’s RBI groundout to make it 9-1 and tacked on another pair of runs in the seventh, too.

Against two of baseball’s top pitching staffs, the Twins batted .251/.312/.440 with 36 runs scored, a monster showing when considering major-league hitters have a combined .697 OPS.

“Big-time series,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “It was just a big-time, collective offensive move that we made in this series. We faced really good pitching against the Red Sox on this home stand. We come back, and this might be the best starting pitching you’re going to run into all year long. It’s just guy after guy who has dominant-type stuff. And we went out there and scored runs in a competitive series. I don’t know what more I could ask for from our offense and the way they did their jobs. I know I was sitting back for a period of time, just watching and being very impressed with the whole group.”

Equally impressive was the job performed by Twins starting pitchers in taking three of four from Seattle, an effort López finished off with an outstanding showing. Knowing the back end of the bullpen was largely off-limits after recording 11 outs in Wednesday’s win, López knew his team could use him pitching deep.

López delivered exactly what the Twins needed.

Though he wasn’t razor sharp, López felt confident enough to throw each of his five pitches 15 times or more in the outing. Whether it was the four-seam fastball, changeup, sweeper, curveball or sinker, López threw it with confidence.

He opened the first inning with a pair of strikeouts and then shook off a fluke double in the second that led to his only run allowed, one that occurred when center fielder Austin Martin and Julien collided on a popup allowing the ball to drop. López struck out three batters in the third inning and two more in the fourth, giving the Twins ample room to pull away from Seattle.

López picked up strikeout No. 9 in the sixth inning and his 10th in the seventh, though Seattle chased him with a one-out single by Luke Raley. He threw 100 pitches, becoming the first Twins pitcher to reach triple digits this season.

With 19 outs recorded, López lowered his ERA over his past three turns to 3.12 in 17 1/3 innings, striking out 26 batters and walking only two. In the series, Twins starting pitchers combined for a 1.61 ERA with 35 strikeouts in 22 1/3 innings compared to Seattle, which struck out 17 and posted an 8.70 ERA in 19 2/3 innings.

“Pitching deep is always my priority,” López said. “The pitching has been awesome. Just as much as hitting is contagious, pitching is also contagious. I was just trying to set the tone and execute my pitches, execute my plan and the bullpen did their thing.”

Teamwork makes the dream work 💁‍♀️ pic.twitter.com/6dXs34D2hp

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) May 9, 2024

Potpourri

Much to his dismay, Royce Lewis’s injured right quad is still showing signs of inflammation. An MRI taken Wednesday showed the infielder is progressing well but still isn’t fully healed from the severe strain he suffered on Opening Day. Lewis is performing most baseball activities while running at 85 percent. “It’s so early, they’re taking advantage of slow-playing their role,” Lewis said. “I mean, it makes sense. So I’m not against anything they’re doing. I’m just against it because I’m not playing.” … Willi Castro made a highlight-reel catch in the second inning when he snagged the ball after it hit off the glove of third baseman Jose Miranda, who finished with two hits and three runs scored. “Never seen anything happen like that, and that’s kind of cool,” Baldelli said. “It’s something that I think is unique to our game in some ways where you still see things for the first time after 20-something years of professional baseball and American Legion and high school and Little League and all those things.” Castro said he made a similar catch in 2021 when he was playing in right field for Detroit. … Reliever Josh Staumont was emotional following Thursday’s outing, his first on a big-league mound since June 5, 2023. Rushed while warming up because of a quick bottom half of the inning, Staumont, who underwent thoracic outlet syndrome surgery last summer, overcame a walk and a hit to post a zero. He struck out three batters and produced five swings and misses in 26 pitches.

(Photo of Max Kepler and Jose Miranda: David Berding / Getty Images)