The first batter for each team Saturday set the tone for the night.

Brandon Lowe swung at three of Kenta Maeda's four pitches, missing the last two to become the first victim in the Twins starter's six shutout innings. Max Kepler launched Michael Wacha's second pitch more than 400 feet into the seats in right-center, the first of eight extra-base hits for Minnesota.

Three hours later, Nelson Cruz grounded out to finish off his 0-for-4 night and complete the Twins' most lopsided victory of the season, 12-0 over the Rays at Target Field.

"One of our best games of the year," manager Rocco Baldelli said after the Twins drubbed the team with the American League's best record and gave themselves a chance to win a third consecutive series against a first-place team. "Swung the bats from the start, pitched well, played well defensively."

Luis Arraez homered, singled and walked and had three RBI; Brent Rooker homered, doubled and made a terrific diving catch in left field; and catchers Mitch Garver and Ryan Jeffers combined for a single, double and Jeffers' home run.

BOXSCORE: Twins 12, Tampa Bat 0

Arraez thought he should have homered in his first at-bat, but his long fly to left bounced off the wall. "I said to Mitch [Garver], 'Hey, look at this pitch, it's middle-middle. Why did I miss that pitch? If I hit the ball, I think I've got a homer,' " Arraez said with a grin. "And then my next at-bat, I'm ready for the cutter, so I hit the ball to right field, and it's a homer. And he said, 'You see? You got a homer.' I said, 'Thank you, Mitchie!' "

But for all the offense, Maeda might have had the best night. Handed a 4-0 lead after one inning against a team that had scored 65 runs over its previous seven games, the righthander gave up only three hits, all of them singles, and never had a runner reach second base in his six innings of work.

"He mixed his pitches really well. He played with his velocity a little bit, too," Baldelli said. "At the start, maybe the velo[city] was a little down, but he was still able to mix some things up. He looked like he was really feeling it."

For making his 20th start of the season, Maeda earned a $1 million incentive bonus from the Twins, and by eclipsing 100 innings — he's at 102 now — he added an extra $250,000, too.

It's all worth it for the Twins, who watched their most senior pitcher depart without giving up a run for the fourth time this season.

Michael Pineda's oblique strain got no worse overnight, Baldelli said, but it's clear he can't pitch with the nagging soreness. So the righthander, who left Friday's start in the third inning, became the eighth Twins pitcher currently on the injured list.

Pineda must sit out 10 days, but it's possible, Baldelli conceded, that his season — and Twins career, given that his contract expires in October — is over.

"I still do hope that we will see him back this year. How confident I am about that, it's hard to say at the moment," Baldelli said. "There are a wide range of outcomes on these types of muscle injuries. Sometimes they can take a little while to heal up."

The Twins already have a vacancy in their rotation, one that lefthander Charlie Barnes will fill on Sunday. Baldelli said the Twins have some options in mind for Wednesday's game against Cleveland, which would have been Pineda's next start, but they haven't made a decision yet.

The Twins filled Pineda's roster spot by calling up righthander Ralph Garza Jr., who was claimed off waivers from Houston earlier this month. Garza became the 30th Twins pitcher of the season when he debuted in the seventh inning, and he needed only 16 pitches to retire all six hitters he faced.

Byron Buxton worked out at Target Field on Saturday, then departed for Georgia to take care of a family matter. He will return Monday or Tuesday, Baldelli said, and the Twins will assess his status ahead of the road trip that begins Thursday in New York. "We're hoping he's close to being able to play," the manager said.

A rehab stint in St. Paul, Buxton's second of the season, is likely, Baldelli added. Buxton's left hand was fractured by a pitch on June 21, and "he will need to go play and get some at-bats and get some comfort with his hand," the manager said.