Twins thump Blue Jays to end Toronto's 8-game winning streak

Kyle Garlick and Jose Miranda hit two homers apiece as the Minnesota Twins beat Toronto 9-3 on Friday night to end the Blue Jays' eight-game winning streak.

Byron Buxton also went deep for the visitors, who outhit Toronto 12-4.

Twins starter Chi Chi Gonzalez gave up homers to George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., in his three-inning season debut. The Minnesota bullpen took care of the rest, holding the Blue Jays without a hit over the remaining six frames.

It was just the fourth loss in 16 games for Toronto (30-21). The Blue Jays fell to 17-9 at Rogers Centre this season.SIMILAR]

Minnesota (31-23), currently tops in the American League Central, ended its three-game losing skid. Jharel Cotton (1-1) worked two shutout innings of relief while Jovani Moran, Tyler Duffey, Joe Smith and Griffin Jax each tossed one inning.

Toronto starter Yusei Kikuchi (2-2) struggled early as he gave up three straight one-out hits. A Garlick homer was sandwiched by a pair of singles as Minnesota jumped out to a 2-0 lead.

Springer answered in the bottom half by hitting his 49th career leadoff homer, moving him into fourth place on Major League Baseball's all-time list.

Stop us if you've heard this before: <br><br>Leadoff <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SpringerDinger?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SpringerDinger</a>