Need to jump start your offense? It never hurts to play the Baltimore Orioles.
Twins’ 5 HRs tonight give them 16 in four games vs. Orioles. That’s the most they’ve ever hit against a non-AL Central foe in one season since the league split into 3 divisions in 1998, tied with the 16 they hit against the 2004 Devil Rays (in 9 games). And still 2 games to play.
— Phil Miller (@MillerStrib) April 27, 2019
After losing two of three games to the Houston Astros, the Twins returned home to once again play the O’s after sweeping a three-game set from the birds earlier in the month. And the Twins didn’t waste any time Friday. They hit three consecutive home runs to start the game, getting solo blasts from Nelson Cruz, Eddie Rosario and C.J. Cron, then Cruz hit one more before the day was done and Max Kepler added yet another for a 6-1 win.
Pitching was much improved, too. Martin Perez made a quality start, pitching six innings of six-hit ball. He allowed one earned run, with four strikeouts and no walks. The win improved his record to 3-0.
Jose Berrios, who is looking for his fourth win, gets the ball Saturday.
Extra innings…
-Rosario now leads the American League in home runs with 11.
-The Twins are on pace to hit a lot of home runs, according to MLB.com.
The Twins have now hit 42 homers in 2019, matching the 1964 Twins for the most long balls in club history through the first 23 games of a season. That puts them on pace to hit 296 homers over the course of a full 162-game campaign, which would shatter the single-season club record of 225, set by the 1963 team.
-Friday’s game was the 29th multi-homer game of Cruz’s career, according to MLB.com.
-Once the Orioles have come and gone, then the Astros come to town to end April and start May.