A 12-7 loss to the Braves Tuesday night snapped the Twins’ four-game win streak, but the loss didn’t come without another a power showing.
Minnesota was losing 11-0 when their bats woke up for four homers in the final four innings, including two from Nelson Cruz and one each by Mitch Garver and Eddie Rosario.
Cruz, who had a pair of three-homer games in a nine-game span recently, had his sixth multi-homer game of the season, tying Harmon Killebrew’s team record set in 1964.
Cruz leads the majors with 16 homers in 24 games since the All-Star break, and the Twins are up to 223 homers this season, just two behind the team record of 225 set by the 1963 Twins.
Is the baseball this year “juiced,” have a smaller core like a golf ball or wound tighter with lower laces? There are plenty of theories about MLB’s history home run pace this season, but Cruz admitted that the ball is flying farther than normal.
“I just make sure I swing at strikes,” Cruz said, according to the Twins. “That’s the thing with any hitter. The ball’s traveling a little bit more than normal, and you wait for mistakes.”
Unfortunately, Jose Berrios had his worst outing of the season as the Braves lit him up for nine runs on nine hits in just 5.2 innings. Ronald Acuna Jr. hit the first pitch of the game over the wall in center field to get the Braves started, and the floodgates opened in the sixth when Atlanta scored six times against Minnesota’s All-Star right-hander.
“Jose’s been pitching great for us,” said Twins manager Rocco Baldelli, via ESPN. “We ran into a good team swinging the bats well, and he might not have been completely on what he was wanting to do tonight.”
Tuesday’s game between the Indians and Rangers was postponed because of rain, so Minnesota’s lead in the AL Central only shrunk to 3.5 games.
Minnesota and Atlanta wrap up the series Wednesday at 12:10 p.m.
