Joe Mauer’s pinch-hit home run in the bottom of the seventh inning proved to be the game-winning hit as the Twins beat the Tigers 5-4 at Target Field on Friday night.
Mauer, coming off the bench to hit for Ehire Adrianza, came to the plate with two and and two out and the Twins trailing 3-2.
It was Mauer’s fourth homer of the season and it left his bat at 102.9 mph and traveled an estimated 423 feet, according to Statcast.
“It’s awesome,” Mauer said, via TwinsBaseball.com. “I mean, just walking to the plate in that situation, tonight’s crowd was awesome, great energy and I kind of had to step out a couple times just to take a couple deep breaths just to control the emotions a little bit. After it hit the seats, that was pretty awesome.”
Mauer leads the majors with a .429 batting average (27-for-63) with runners in scoring position.
Eddie Rosario and Tyler Austin also homered in the win. Austin’s blast went 451-feet, making it the longest homer by a Twins player this season.
