You know how when you’re playing a weekly D-League softball game and it seems like the opponent is loaded with A-League talent? That’s pretty much how opponents of the Twins (34-16) feel at this point.
Minnesota, the hottest team on the planet, lit up the scoreboard again Friday night with an 11-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox at Target Field. It’s the ninth win in the last 10 games for the Twins, who are 25-9 since finding themselves 9-7 on April 18.
How many homers did the Twins hit this time? Just three:
- Miguel Sano – 5th of the season (in seven games) and third in the last two days.
- Max Kepler – 11th of the season.
- Eddie Rosario – 15th of the season. He had four hits in the game.
Rosario has a been a monster at the plate the last two weeks after going through a slump that saw his average drop to .225 on May 11. Two weeks later, his average has spiked to .285 thanks to a stretch of 14 games where he’s hit .457 (27-of-59) with 17 RBI.
Last year, Rosario just missed out on his first All-Star selection. This year, at the rate he’s going, there should be no question to his All-Star status because he’s hitting .285 with 15 homers and 42 RBI.
Think about it like this: If Houston’s George Springer is considered an early MVP favorite, then Rosario isn’t really that far behind.
- Springer: .308/.389/.643, 17 HR, 43 RBI, 41 R
- Rosario: .285/.314/.554, 15 HR, 42 RBI, 33 R
What separates Springer from Rosario is his knack for drawing walks. Rosario has coaxed a walk just nine times this season compared to Springer’s 25. That said, Rosario has struck out just 29 times compared to Springer’s 45 whiffs.
Even more impressive is that the Twins have piled up 86 runs in their last nine games.
That’s nearly 10 runs per game. Take out a two game slump where they scored a combined seven runs against the Mariners and Angels and you’ll find that 79 of their 86 runs have come in just SEVEN games.
That’s the kind of stat that will make you verbalize a curse word to emphasize your next word: “That’s (expletive) unbelievable.”
Minnesota has played 50 games and scored 300 runs while hitting 101 homers.
Oh, and before we go we should note that the Twins use pitchers during games, too. Jose Berrios pitched 6 2/3 innings and allowed four runs, but just one of them was earned. He’s now 7-2 with a 3.20 ERA this season.
The Twins and White Sox are back in action Saturday at 1:10 p.m.
