TWINS TRIVIA is hopefully a fun and informative site that will help you to better enjoy the Minnesota Twins and their wonderful history. “History never looks like history when you are living through it” – John Gardner, former Secretary of Health
Eddie Rosario hit a pinch-hit two-run home run in the seventh inning that turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead in the Twins’ victory over the Rays. It was the first pinch-hit home run that turned a deficit into a lead for the Twins since Matt LeCroy hit one in Toronto on May 19, 2004. LeCroy’s blow was slightly more dramatic than Rosario’s; it was a grand slam in the ninth inning that turned a three-run deficit into a lead.
All four members of the Indians starting infield homered on Thursday against the Twins: first baseman Carlos Santana, second baseman Jason Kipnis, shortstop Francisco Lindor, and third baseman Jose Ramirez. But not only that: all three starting outfielders had an assist: left fielder Brandon Guyer, center fielder Rajai Davis, and right fielder Abraham Almonte. No other team in major-league history has had homers from all four of its starting infielders and assists from all three of its starting outfielders in one game.
Brian Dozier had two hits including a homer in the Twins’ loss in Cleveland, and over his last five games he’s collected 10 hits and slugged five homers. Over the last 30 years, the only other Twins players with 10 hits and five homers in a five-game span were Kirby Puckett (1987 and 1995) and David Ortiz (2002).
Twins leadoff hitter Brian Dozier had three RBIs and three runs scored, second-place hitter Joe Mauer had four RBIs and two runs scored and third-place hitter Max Kepler scored twice and drove in two in Minnesota’s 13-5 victory over Cleveland on Wednesday. It’s only the second time since RBIs became an official statistic in 1920 that each of the top three hitters in the Senators/Twins starting lineup produced multiple RBIs and runs scored in the same game. The only other time that happened was on July 1, 1964, when Zoilo Versalles, Rich Rollins and Tony Oliva each did it in a 14-3 win against the Red Sox at Fenway Park.
One day after becoming the first Twins rookie in franchise history to homer three times in a game, Max Kepler cleared the fence one more time in Minnesota’s victory over the Indians last night. Kepler became the first Twins player since Kirby Puckett in August 1987 to hit four home runs within a two-game span. Only four other players this season have homered four or more times over a two-game span – Mookie Betts (five homers), Khris Davis (four), Michael Saunders (four), and Giancarlo Stanton (four).
Max Kepler slugged three home runs last night, which may make another active player who began his career with the Twins a little jealous. David Ortiz has hit 528 home runs in the majors and he has never had a three-homer game. Big Papi is one of three members of the 500-home-run club who never hit three in one game, along with Rafael Palmeiro and Gary Sheffield.
Corey Seager went deep three times in a game against the Braves in June. Kepler and Seager are the fourth pair of rookies to each have a three-homer game in the same season. The other tandems to do that were Mark McGwire and Mickey Brantley in 1987, Nick Markakis and Cody Ross in 2006, and Evan Longoria and Joey Votto in 2008.
Update: According to Elias, Max Kepler became the first European-born player in baseball history to homer three times in a game.
Kepler hits three homers in Twins’ victory
Joe Mauer drew a walk with the bases full in the last of the 12th inning, allowing the winning run to score as the Twins defeated the White Sox, 2-1 last night. Yes, the old walkoff walk, the fifth in the majors this season, but the first for the Twins since a game in 2007 when they also accepted one from the White Sox.
Now, the hard-to-believe part: That was only the second walkoff RBI for Mauer in his 13-year major-league career. The other one came in a game against the Athletics in 2007, which the Twins star ended with a ninth-inning single off Joe Kennedy.
Max Kepler hit a score-tying home run for the Twins in the sixth inning and singled in a run in the seventh inning of Minnesota’s 6-2 win over the Orioles. Kepler’s home run was his eighth this month, which ties Trevor Story for the second-most homers by a rookie in July, one behind the Padres’ Ryan Schimpf with nine. This is the first calendar month in major-league history in which three different rookies each hit at least eight home runs.
The Twins’ Ervin Santana allowed just two runs over nine innings but the Braves kept their offense in check as Atlanta prevailed, 2-0. It’s the fifth time over the last three seasons that a Twins starter tossed a complete game and lost (Ricky Nolasco pitched one game of this type in 2014, Phil Hughes once each in 2014 and 2015, and Kyle Gibson in 2015). That’s tied with the Giants and the Indians for the most losses of this type for any team’s starting pitchers over that span.
The Minnesota Twins rapped out 11 hits against David Price in their 11-9 win in Boston yesterday, ending years of frustration against him. Price entered the game 9-3 with a 2.12 ERA against the Twins, having won his last five starts against them. Five runs tied the most that Minnesota had ever scored against Price, and its 11 hits were three more than in any other game.
Max Kepler‘s home run off Francisco Rodriguez in the ninth inning gave the Twins a 2-1 lead in their eventual 4-1 win over the Tigers yesterday. Kepler has hit 10 home runs over his last 33 games. Kepler is the fourth Twins rookie over the last 40 years to hit 10 or more homers over 1 33-game span. The other Twins rookies to do over the last 40 years are Kent Hrbek and Tom Brunansky, both in 1982, and Miguel Sano in 2015.