Max Kepler owns Trevor Bauer.
The Twins’ outfielder homered in three consecutive at-bats against the All-Star right-hander earlier this season, and he bombed him twice again in his first two at-bats in Minnesota’s 6-2 victory over the Indians on Saturday night.
That’s five straight at-bats with a homer between Kepler and Bauer.
Even more intriguing is that Kepler hit a deep ball foul against Bauer in his third at-bat before striking out.
More on Kepler’s historic feat, via MLB.com.
“Kepler’s homers in five consecutive at-bats against Bauer matched the longest streak by any batter off a single pitcher in the Expansion Era (since 1961), according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Carlos Delgado hit five straight against Jorge Sosa from 2003-04, while Frank Howard also accomplished the feat against Bob Hendley from ’63-64.
Kepler is the only player to hit all five consecutive homers in a single season.”
Most importantly, the victory increases Minnesota’s lead in the AL Central to 7.5 games, and a win Sunday would give the Twins a series sweep and an 8.5-game lead.
A sweep would push Cleveland closer to becoming sellers rather than buyers at the All-Star break, which would give Minnesota a rather easy path to the division title over the final two and a half months of the season.
Sunday’s game starts at 12:10 p.m. and features a big-time pitching matchup between Twins All-Star Jose Berrios and All-Star Game MVP Shane Bieber.
