The Twins opened a four-game series in Seattle with an 11-6 victory Thursday night, and if you didn’t stay up late to watch it you missed a four more home runs.
Jason Castro got the slugfest started with a solo homer in the third inning and two batters later Max Kepler got in on the homering act. For Castro, it was his seventh dinger of the season. He’s on pace for 26 homers, which would shatter his career high of 18 set back in 2013 when he was an All-Star with the Astros.
It was more of the same in the fourth inning as C.J. Cron, who had four hits in the game, crushed a 453-foot moonshot into the left-field seats to give the Twins a 4-1 lead. Later in the inning, Byron Buxton sent a pitch 415 feet for his third homer of the season and second in as many games.
Miguel Sano went 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles, an RBI and a run scored in his first game with the Twins this season. He missed the first 41 games of the season because of a laceration on his heel.
The Twins have now reached 80 home runs this season, which ranks third in MLB behind the Astros (83) and Mariners (87). Here’s how the 80 are broken down.
- 13 – Eddie Rosario
- 10 – C.J. Cron
- 9 – Mitch Garver
- 9 – Max Kepler
- 8 – Jorge Polanco
- 7 – Jason Castro
- 7 – Nelson Cruz
- 6 – Jonathan Schoop
- 4 – Marwin Gonzalez
- 3 – Byron Buxton
- 2 – Willians Astudillo
- 2 – Ehire Adrianza
At 28-15, the Twins lead the Indians by 4 1/2 games in the American League Central Division, and they’re just a half-game behind the Astros (29-15) for the best record in the major leagues.
