After being no-hit by Texas starter Yu Darvish for six innings, back-to-back homers by Chris Herrmann and Justin Morneau pushed the Twins past the Rangers 3-2 in Arlington Friday night.
Darvish, the game’s current strikeout king, was pitching masterfully, having struck out 11 Twins, when the Twins broke the ice in the 7th with a walk by Brian Dozier. Herrmann hit his fourth homer of the year to tie the game at two, and next-batter Morneau crushed an upper-decker that put the Twins on top and knocked Darvish out of the game.
Hendriks outduels Darvish? Seems improbable, but it’s true.
Twins starter Liam Hendriks had a fine outing, giving up two runs on five hits over six innings to get his first win of the season.
He gave up a homer to Jurickson Profer in the third, then good ol’ A.J. Pierzynski knocked one in in the 4th inning on a fielder’s choice.
It was a rare night of quality baseball where all the Twins pieces functioned as they should (minus Joe Mauer, of course). What looked to be a no-hit loss turned into a shiny looking victory.
Brian Deunsing, Jared Burton, Josh Roenicke and Glen Perkins pitched scoreless relief. Perkins picked up his 31st save.
Morneau’s home run (17) moved him into 3rd place on the Twins all-time list, passing Tony Oliva.
“Tony’s one of my favorite people,” Morneaus told Fox Sports North after the game. “He’s one of the greatest Twins ever.”
Bad snapshot of the 2013 season: First time the Twins hit back-to-back dingers this year.
Game two of three Saturday night in Arlington.
