Berrios fans 11, Twins hit 3 homers in 7-4 win over Marlins

Jose Berrios struck out a season-high 11 in seven innings and the Minnesota Twins hit three homers in a 7-4 win over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night.

Max Kepler hit his 29th homer of the season, Mitch Garver added a three-run shot and Eddie Rosario had a two-run home run as the Twins won for the fifth time in six games. Minnesota leads the majors with 209 home runs, 16 shy of the club record set in 1963. It was the 32nd time this season the Twins hit at least three homers in a game.

Berrios (10-5) retired the first 12 batters he faced, including six on strikeouts, before Neil Walker led off the fifth inning with a dribbler down the third-base line. Starlin Castro followed with a base hit to center. The 25-year-old right-hander settled in and retired the next nine batters before being lifted with a big lead. He allowed just two hits and didn't walk a batter while lowering his ERA to 2.80.

Minnesota Twins' Eddie Rosario (20) celebrates in the dugout after hitting a two-run home run during the fifth inning of the team's baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Wednesday, July 31, 2019, in Miami. (AP PhotoLynne Sladky)

Miami's Brian Anderson hit a grand slam in the ninth inning to cut the Marlins' deficit to 7-4.

Taylor Rogers came on to strike out the final two batters, earning his 17th save in 22 chances.

Garver's three-run homer, his 20th, gave the Twins a 3-0 lead in the third.

Minnesota Twins' Max Kepler (26) celebrates in the dugout after hitting a solo home run during the fifth inning of the team's baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Wednesday, July 31, 2019, in Miami. (AP PhotoLynne Sladky)

The Twins added four runs on five hits in the fifth inning. Kepler led off with a homer. After Garver singled, Rosario connected for a two-run homer to right field. Marwin Gonzalez doubled to give Minnesota a 7-0 lead.

Anderson's slam, his second of the season, came off Sean Poppen after the Marlins opened the inning with three straight singles.

Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara (4-10) allowed seven runs in 4 2/3 innings.

Miami Marlins starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara gestures after Minnesota Twins' Mitch Garver was safe at first with a single during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, July 31, 2019, in Miami. (AP PhotoLynne Sladky)

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Michael Pineda (7-5, 4.30 ERA) will pitch Thursday's series finale, looking to stay hot with a 3-2 record and 2.87 ERA over his last eight starts.

Marlins: RHP Jordan Yamamoto (4-2, 3.64) allowed a career-high six runs on two hits over four innings in a loss against Arizona.

Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Jose Berrios walks to the dugout during the fourth inning of the team's baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Wednesday, July 31, 2019, in Miami. (AP PhotoLynne Sladky)

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Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Jose Berrios, left, talks with second baseman Luis Arraez (2) after being removed during the seventh inning of the team's baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Wednesday, July 31, 2019, in Miami. The Twins won 7-4. (AP PhotoLynne Sladky)

Miami Marlins starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara stands on the mound as Minnesota Twins' Eddie Rosario rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the third inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 31, 2019, in Miami. (AP PhotoLynne Sladky)

AL HENAKIYAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Ricky Brabec deliberately gave up his motorbike lead over Luciano Benavides in the Dakar Rally while Nasser Al-Attiyah was happy to cruise through another day closer to his sixth car title on Thursday.

Al-Attiyah started 346-kilometer stage 11 between Bisha north to Al Henakiyah with a 12-minute overall lead and let it drop to less than nine minutes over new second-placed driver Nani Roma in a Ford.

Al-Attiyah was content to let Dacia teammate Sébastien Loeb catch up and pass him to have a teammate nearby for any help and to minimize errors on the mazy, dirt track. Al-Attiyah was 17th, nearly 13 minutes behind stage winner Mattias Ekström, and said he needed to execute the same plan on Friday's last effective racing stage before the end on Saturday.

“If we lose two, three, four minutes no problem,” Al-Attiyah said. “We just need to finish this Dakar in first place.”

Honda cooked up a strategy in the Saudi desert for Adrien van Beveren to open the way and let Brabec catch up after the 190-kilometer pit stop and pick up time bonuses.

Brabec boosted his overall lead from 56 seconds to nearly four minutes just 25 kilometers from the finish. He was also within a minute of the stage lead but he slowed down so KTM rival Benavides was the new overall leader, but only by 23 seconds.

Brabec got his his wish to start Friday's stage 12 six minutes behind Benavides, so he can eye him. They head west to the rally starting point of Yanbu on the Red Sea coast on 311 kilometers of gravel, some river beds with a finish in the dunes.

“A little bit of strategy today and hopefully it pays off tomorrow,” Brabec said. "I feel like its going to be a good day. We’re going back into the rocks so it will be a little bit better for us.”

Brabec is counting on his experience of winning the Dakar in 2020 and 2024 to trump Benavides, who has a best placing of fourth last year.

“I've been in this situation before,” Brabec said. “For the whole two weeks I've been just trying to stay relax, stay comfortable and just be confident, so two days more. I'm gonna do the same thing tomorrow that I've been doing every day; ride dirt bikes and have fun.”

Van Beveren helped Brabec with navigation while fighting with another teammate, Skyler Howes, the entire day for the stage win.

Howes prevailed by 21 seconds for his first career major stage in his eighth Dakar. He was third in 2023 and sixth last year. He's running fifth, 34 minutes off the pace.

Benavides was fourth in the stage and believed the race will be decided on the final 105-kilometer sprint on Saturday.

“I played no strategy like Ricky. I don't care,” Benavides said. “I'm doing what I can to control what I can control.”

Ekström won his third car stage of this Dakar, a special so fast that 12 other drivers were within 10 minutes.

Ford achieved another 1-2-3 stage. Romain Dumas, a three-time winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours, was a career-best second just over a minute back and Carlos Sainz was third.

Only Toyota's Henk Lategan beat Ekström to a checkpoint but Lategan's podium hopes were wrecked after 140 kilometers when a bearing broke on his rear left wheel. Lategan took four hours to get home. He was second last year and second overall overnight but plunged to 23rd.

Loeb moved up to third overall, 10 minutes behind Roma and three minutes ahead of Ekström.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Rider Daniel Sanders competes during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Driver Nasser Al-Attiyah and co-driver Fabian Lurquin compete during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Rider Skyler Howes competes during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Driver Henk Lategan, left, and co-driver Brett Cummings repair their car during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Driver Nani Roma and co-driver Alex Haro compete during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)