The Twins hammered the White Sox 10-3 Thursday night in Chicago, and leading the way was Nelson Cruz, who at 39 years old had the first 3-homer game of his career.
Cruz took White Sox All-Star Lucas Giolito deep with a 473-foot blast in the first inning, then rocked him again with a homer to center in the third inning and another blast in the fifth inning, finishing his night 3-for-5 with 5 RBI.
Cruz is the oldest player to hit three homers in a game since Alex Rodriguez did it against the Twins on July 25, 2015.
That wasn’t all for the Twins. Max Kepler hit his team-leading 26th homer of the season and Miguel Sano cracked another long ball, his 17th.
Minnesota is the first team in MLB history to hit 5 homers in a game 9 times in a single season. The Boston Red Sox had held the previous record of 8 since 1977.
The Twins now lead the majors with 199 homers, just 26 shy of the team record of 225 set by the 1963 club. They’re also now within 65 homers of the Yankees’ MLB record 264 homers, set in 2018.
Despite the win, Minnesota’s lead in the AL Central remains 2 games because the Indians beat the Royals 5-4 in 14 innings.
More on Cleveland’s impressive rally in the division race from ESPN’s Dave Schoenfield.
“The Indians are now 26-9 since June 13 as they hold on for a 14-inning victory over the Royals. What’s been the key? Well, they’re 10-0 against the Tigers and 8-2 against the Royals in that stretch. Keep this mind as they sit 2 games behind the Twins: They have 19 games left against the Tigers, Royals and White Sox — but the Twins have 33.”
Up next: Twins at White Sox, 7 p.m. Friday.
