Nothing beats home cooking.
After a 2-4 road trip, the Twins were back at Target Field on Friday and went to work quickly against the Texas Rangers. They scored six runs early, took a 9-0 lead by the sixth inning, then scored six more runs late to crush the Rangers, 15-6.
Rangers pitching never had a chance. The Twins scored 15 runs on 20 hits, including 13 extra-base hits — nine doubles and four home runs. The big bopper was second baseman Jonathan Schoop who went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and four RBI.
That was plenty for starter Martin Perez. Although he fell short of a quality start, he still got the win and improved to 8-3 on the season. Michael Pineda gets the ball on Saturday.
Extra innings…
-Cleveland was idle on Friday, so the Twins’ lead in the AL Central improved to 6.5 games. The Twins desperately need to sweep this series against the Rangers because as soon as the all-star break is over, the Twins head to Cleveland for a key, three-game set.
-The Twins set a major league record by hitting four more home runs to give them 165. That’s the most home runs hit before the all-star break, according to MLB.com.
-Who hit the home runs? Luis Arraez (2), Jorge Polanco (13), Schoop (14) and Mitch Garver (13).
-The Twins are now 23-9 in blowout wins this season.
-After the Twins went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position in Thursday’s loss to the A’s, the Twins were a much improved 8-for-16 on Friday.
-A crowd of about 38,000 fans attended Friday’s game.