Miranda's 5 hits lead Twins to rain-shortened 12-3 win over Tigers

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jose Miranda went 5 for 5 with three doubles, four runs scored and three RBIs as the Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers 12-3 on Thursday in a game called in the seventh inning due to rain.

The start was moved up an hour with threatening weather in the forecast. Rain began to fall steadily in the fourth, play was finally stopped in the bottom of the seventh and the game was called following a 30-minute delay.

Ryan Jeffers had three hits and four RBIs for the Twins, including his team-leading 14th homer. Max Kepler added two hits and two RBIs.

“As a team, we’re clicking. Everyone is (having) some good at-bats,” said Miranda, whose five hits were a career high. “There’s not a single hitter you can say is an easy (out) for our team. That’s a great thing to have.”

Bailey Ober (8-4) allowed three runs — one earned — on seven hits and struck out eight in six innings to win his third straight decision. Minnesota has won six of its last seven series.

“We’re pleased,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “It’s July. We never, ever get too far ahead of ourselves in our game. Because anything can happen any given day. But the consistency (with) which we’re playing on both sides of the ball, I think it’s great and we need to continue to do it.”

Colt Keith homered and Jake Rogers had two RBIs for the Tigers. Kenta Maeda (2-5) gave up nine runs on nine hits and three walks over 3 2/3 innings.

Keith got the scoring started in the first, when he jerked an 0-2 slider from Ober deep into the second deck of right-field seats for a solo home run.

Ober could have had a 1-2-3 second inning, but a passed ball by Jeffers on strike three to Zack McKinstry allowed the batter to reach base. Gio Urshela followed with a single, and Jake Rogers drove home both runners with a double.

“I just kind of leaned on my stuff the rest of the way,” Ober said, explaining how he rebounded from that inning. “I knew that I was putting the ball in the spots that I needed to and ended up being able to go through and finish six.”

Minnesota got two runs back in the bottom half on Jeffers’ run-scoring double and a sacrifice fly by Brooks Lee, his second RBI in two games since the club's second-ranked prospect made his major league debut.

Kepler’s two-out, two-run single in the third gave the Twins their first lead, and Manuel Margot followed with a single off Maeda’s glove to make it 5-3 through three innings.

Minnesota chased Maeda with four runs after he retired the first two batters in the fourth. Miranda’s two-run double and Jeffers’ two-run homer did all the damage.

Jeffers’ homer extended Minnesota’s franchise record to 22 consecutive games with a home run.

Miranda picked up his fifth hit in the seventh, just before play was halted. Jeffers was up next, and the first pitch slipped out of reliever Shelby Miller's hand and clipped the bill of Jeffers' helmet. After a brief discussion, the umpires sent both teams off the field and called for the tarp.

“Moving the game up to noon ended up being the right decision in a big way,” Baldelli said. “We were going to play this game until we couldn’t play anymore, and when we shut it down, it was the right time to shut it down.”

UP NEXT

Tigers: RHP Reese Olson (2-8, 3.32 ERA) starts Friday night in the opener of a three-game series at Cincinnati. Olson has pitched at least six innings and given up no more than two runs in each of his last three starts.

Twins: RHP Pablo López (8-6, 4.88 ERA) looks for his third straight win as the Twins begin a three-game home series against Houston on Friday night. López has allowed just one earned run and struck out 23 over 14 innings in his last two starts.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Detroit Tigers relief pitcher Joey Wentz attempts to field the ball hit for a single by Minnesota Twins' Ryan Jeffers during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Thursday, July 4, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

Detroit Tigers shortstop Zach McKinstry flips the ball to second base on a fielder's choice hit by Minnesota Twins' Austin Martin during the second inning of a baseball game, Thursday, July 4, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

Minnesota Twins' Brooks Lee hits a sacrifice fly against the Detroit Tigers during the second inning of a baseball game, Thursday, July 4, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

Minnesota Twins' Ryan Jeffers hits a single against the Detroit Tigers during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Thursday, July 4, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

Minnesota Twins' Jose Miranda celebrates his two RBI double against the Detroit Tigers during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Thursday, July 4, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

Minnesota Twins' Ryan Jeffers celebrates his two-run home run against the Detroit Tigers during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Thursday, July 4, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

Minnesota Twins' Max Kepler hits a two RBI single against the Detroit Tigers during the second inning of a baseball game, Thursday, July 4, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

Minnesota Twins' Jose Miranda hits a two RBI double against the Detroit Tigers during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Thursday, July 4, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)

PARIS (AP) — Voting has begun in mainland France on Sunday in pivotal runoff elections that could hand a historic victory to Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally and its inward-looking, anti-immigrant vision — or produce a hung parliament and years of political deadlock.

French President Emmanuel Macron took a huge gamble in dissolving parliament and calling for the elections after his centrists were trounced in European elections on June 9.

The snap elections in this nuclear-armed nation will influence the war in Ukraine, global diplomacy and Europe’s economic stability, and they’re almost certain to undercut President Emmanuel Macron for the remaining three years of his presidency.

The first round on June 30 saw the largest gains ever for the anti-immigration, nationalist National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen.

A bit over 49 million people are registered to vote in the elections, which will determine which party controls the National Assembly, France's influential lower house of parliament, and who will be prime minister. If support is further eroded for Macron’s weak centrist majority, he will be forced to share power with parties opposed to most of his pro-business, pro-European Union policies.

Racism and antisemitism have marred the electoral campaign, along with Russian cybercampaigns, and more than 50 candidates reported being physically attacked — highly unusual for France. The government is deploying 30,000 police on voting day.

The heightened tensions come while France is celebrating a very special summer: Paris is about to host exceptionally ambitious Olympic Games, the national soccer team reached the semifinal of the Euro 2024 championship, and the Tour de France is racing around the country alongside the Olympic torch.

The elections wrap up Sunday at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT) in mainland France and on the island of Corsica. Initial polling projections are expected Sunday night, with early official results expected late Sunday and early Monday.

Voters residing in the Americas and in France’s overseas territories of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint-Martin, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyana and French Polynesia voted on Saturday.

The elections could leave France with its first far-right government since the Nazi occupation in World War II if the National Rally wins an absolute majority and its 28-year-old leader Jordan Bardella becomes prime minister. The party came out on top in the previous week's first-round voting, followed by a coalition of center-left, hard-left and Green parties, and Macron’s centrist alliance.

But the outcome remains highly uncertain. Polls between the two rounds suggest that the National Rally may win the most seats in the 577-seat National Assembly but fall short of the 289 seats needed for a majority. That would still make history, if a party with historic links to xenophobia and downplaying the Holocaust, and long seen as a pariah, becomes France’s biggest political force.

If it wins the majority, Macron would be forced to share power in an awkward arrangement known in France as "cohabitation."

Another possibility is that no party has a majority, resulting in a hung parliament. That could prompt Macron to pursue coalition negotiations with the center-left or name a technocratic government with no political affiliations.

Both would be unprecedented for modern France, and make it more difficult for the European Union’s No. 2 economy to make bold decisions on arming Ukraine, reforming labor laws or reducing its huge deficit. Financial markets have been jittery since Macron surprised even his closest allies in June by announcing snap elections after the National Rally won the most seats for France in European Parliament elections.

Regardless of what happens, Macron said he won’t step down and will stay president until his term ends in 2027.

Many French voters, especially in small towns and rural areas, are frustrated with low incomes and a Paris political leadership seen as elitist and unconcerned with workers' day-to-day struggles. National Rally has connected with those voters, often by blaming immigration for France's problems, and has built up broad and deep support over the past decade.

Le Pen has softened many of the party's positions — she no longer calls for quitting NATO and the EU — to make it more electable. But the party’s core far-right values remain. It wants a referendum on whether being born in France is enough to merit citizenship, to curb rights of dual citizens, and give police more freedom to use weapons.

Surk reported from Nice, France.

Follow AP’s global election coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/global-elections/

A woman casts her ballot in the second round of the legislative elections, Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Strasbourg, eastern France. France votes Sunday in pivotal runoff elections that could hand a historic victory to Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally and its inward-looking, anti-immigrant vision — or produce a hung parliament and years of political deadlock. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)

Local city officials prepare voting kits for the legislative election in Strasbourg, eastern France, on Saturday, July 6, 2024. Voters face a decisive choice in the runoff Sunday of snap parliamentary elections that could produce the country’s first far-right government since the World War II Nazi occupation. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)

Local city officials prepare voting kits for the legislative election in Strasbourg, eastern France, on Saturday, July 6, 2024. Voters face a decisive choice in the runoff Sunday of snap parliamentary elections that could produce the country’s first far-right government since the World War II Nazi occupation. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)

FILE - French President Emmanuel Macron reacts as he delivers a speech, Wednesday, June 12, 2024 in Paris. French President Emmanuel Macron's expected political failure in decisive parliamentary elections Sunday may paralyze the country, weaken him abroad and overshadow his legacy, just as France is about to be in the global spotlight as host of the Paris Olympics. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

FILE - Far-right National Rally party president Jordan Bardella, right, leaves with far-right leader Marine Le Pen after a press conference, Monday, June 24, 2024 in Paris. Both Le Pen and Bardella have made clear that, in power, they would seek to rein-in Macron and exert themselves in defense, European and foreign affairs decision-making. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)