Category: According to Elias

According to ELIAS – Byron Buxton

Buxton hits 3 HRs, adds some dash

 

Byron Buxton

Byron Buxton went 4-for-5 with three home runs and five RBIs in the Twins’ 7–2 win at Toronto yesterday. It was the 64th time since 2012 that a player hit as many as three homers in one game. But Buxton was only the second of those players to steal a base in the game. The other was Yoenis Cespedes for the Mets in 2015.

Buxton joins his outfield compatriots Max Kepler (8/1/2016 in Cleveland) and Eddie Rosario (6/13/2017 versus Seattle at Target Field) with three home runs in a single Twins game.

UPDATE 8/27 –  Byron Buxton has been named the AL Player of the Week for the period
ending August 27th. Buxton hit .333 (11-for-33) with nine runs scored, a double, five home
runs, 10 RBI and two stolen bases over eight games played to earn his first career AL Player of the Week Award. Among his AL counterparts, Byron finished first in home runs; tied for first in total bases (27); tied for second in extra-base hits (6) and RBI; fourth in slugging percentage (.818); and tied for fourth in hits and stolen bases. 

This is Minnesota’s third weekly award this season, becoming the second AL Club to do so (also Baltimore Orioles), other Twins to win this season include Miguel Sanó (April 30) and Eddie Rosario (August 13).

According to ELIAS – Bartolo Colon

No K’s, no problem for Colon

Bartolo Colon

Bartolo Colon is rewarding the Twins’ faith in him. The hefty veteran wielded an ugly 2–9 record with an equally hideous 7.70 ERA at the end of July, but Colon has won four of five starts since the start of August including Friday night’s victory over the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Colon’s win against Toronto was unlike any of his major-league career, and when you’re talking about a pitcher with 239 wins, that’s saying something. Friday’s game marked the first time in Colon’s 20 major-league seasons that he registered a win without striking a batter out. He struck out one batter in six of his wins, including one earlier this season for the Braves, which coincidentally also took place at Rogers Centre.

According to ELIAS – Jorge Polanco

Polanco keeps homer streak alive

Jorge Polanco homered for the third straight game in the Twins’ win over the White Sox yesterday, tying the longest homer streak by a shortstop in Twins history. Their only other players to do that, including their 60 years as the Washington Senators, were Zoilo Versalles (three times) and Roy Smalley, Jr. (in 1980).

According to ELIAS – Brian Dozier

Dozier is Mr. Second Half

Brian Dozier

Brian Dozier hit a three-run homer in the second inning off Carson Fulmer in game two of the twinbill in the South Side of Chicago. The Twins managed a split in the doubleheader, winning game two 10-2. Dozier hit 28 home runs after the All-Star break last season and has already hit 13 post-break home runs in 2017. Dozier’s 13 post-break homers this season are the fourth-most in the majors, trailing Giancarlo Stanton (19), Nelson Cruz (14), and Joey Gallo (14). His 41 overall home runs after the midsummer classic over the last two seasons are by far the most in the majors; Nelson Cruz (34), Justin Upton (33), Khris Davis (32), and Gary Sanchez (30) are the only other players with at least 30.

According to ELIAS – Eddie Rosario & Bartolo Colon

Rosario hits a grand slam in his second first-inning AB

Eddie Rosario

After grounding out as his team’s second batter, Eddie Rosario then capped the Twins’ nine-run first inning with a grand slam as Minnesota went on to rout Arizona, 12–5. Only one other first-, second-, or third-place batter in franchise history had ever hit a bases-loaded home run in the first inning. On June 28, 1933, Hall of Famer Heinie Manush, batting second in the Washington Senators’ lineup, hit a first-inning grand slam in a 15–2 win at Cleveland.

Colon completes his bingo card against a team that didn’t exist when he debuted

 

Bartolo Colon

Bartolo Colon allowed four runs in six innings, but that was good enough to earn the victory in the Twins’ 12–5 win over the visiting Diamondbacks. Entering Sunday, Arizona was the only one of the 30 current major-league teams that the 44-year-old righty had never beaten. In fact, Colon made his major-league debut in 1997, one year before the D-Backs played their first game. Two other active pitchers have beaten all 30 teams – John Lackey and Max Scherzer.

Colon’s task was made easier when his teammates scored nine times in the first inning. Before Sunday, the most first-inning runs Colon had ever benefitted from in his previous 519 major-league starts was six, in an A’s win over the Astros on April 17, 2013.

Colon became the 18th pitcher in baseball history to record at least one win against all 30 big league teams.  The veteran righty was 0-2 in four previous career starts against the D’Backs, but he finally notched that elusive win in his 20th MLB season. Former Twins pitcher Kyle Lohse is also one of the 18 that has beaten all 30 teams.

Current Twins pitcher Ervin Santana has beaten 29 teams and still needs to beat the Brewers and former Twins pitcher Francisco Liriano is also one team short still searching for a way to beat the Marlins.

 

According to ELIAS – Jose Berrios

Sweet Berrios poisons D-Backs

Jose Berrios

23-year-old Jose Berrios defeated Zack Greinke and the Diamondbacks, with the Twins winning the game 5-0. Berrios pitched seven brilliant innings in which he allowed just 2 hits and 1 walk, fanning 7. Berrios is now 11-5 in 18 starts this season. Only three other pitchers in Twins/Senators history, 23-or-younger, started a season with as many wins in their first 18 starts of a season: 22-year-old Joe Boehling in 1913 (11-5), 23-year-old Scott Erickson in 1991 (13-3), and 22-year-old Francisco Liriano in 2005 (11-3).

According to ELIAS – Byron Buxton

Buxton’s own kind of triple double, adding inside-the-park HR

 

Byron Buxton

Byron Buxton’s contributions to the Twins’ 10-3 victory yesterday over the visiting Diamondbacks included a double, a triple and an inside-the-park home run. Buxton became only the fifth major-leaguer in the 70-plus years since the end of World War II, and the first in 41 years, to squeeze those three types of hits into the same game. Jerry Snyder did it for the Washington Senators in 1956, a young Roger Maris for the Kansas City A’s in 1958, George Altman for the Cubs in 1961, and Al Bumbry for the Orioles at Chicago’s Comiskey Park on Aug. 21, 1976.

According to Phil Miller in the Star Tribune this morning, MLB announced that Buxton’s trip around the bases took a mere 13.85 seconds, the fastest that its StatCast system that was installed in 2015 had ever recorded.

In all, the Twins smashed six home runs in their victory, tying the most home runs in a home game in the history of the franchise, dating to 1901 when the team played in Washington. The Twins connected for six circuit clouts twice at Metropolitan Stadium (in 1964 and 1966) and once earlier this year at Target Field (May 2 against the A’s). Actually, it’s not a surprise that it never happened at Griffith Stadium, the longtime home to the Washington Senators. The field dimensions at old Griffith were so huge that in 1945—a season in which Washington uncharacteristically finished just a game and a half behind the pennant-winning Tigers—the Senators hit exactly one home run—one!—in their 78 home games. And that lone home homer was an inside-the-parker, hit by Joe Kuhel on September 7.

Games when the Twins turned on the power

Results
Rk Date Tm Opp Rslt PA HR
1 1963-08-29 (1) MIN WSA W 14-2 49 8
2 2001-07-12 MIN MIL W 13-5 46 7
3 2017-08-18 MIN ARI W 10-3 41 6
4 2017-05-02 MIN OAK W 9-1 38 6
5 2016-06-26 MIN NYY W 7-1 37 6
6 2007-07-06 (2) MIN CHW W 12-0 48 6
7 2004-04-10 MIN DET W 10-5 47 6
8 2000-04-09 MIN KCR W 13-7 43 6
9 1993-08-15 MIN OAK W 12-5 44 6
10 1966-06-09 MIN KCA W 9-4 38 6
11 1964-05-14 MIN CHW W 15-7 44 6
12 1962-04-29 (2) MIN CLE W 7-3 41 6
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/19/2017.

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58 home runs in one day

Major-league players combined to hit 58 home runs in the 15 games played on Friday, the second-highest total of home runs ever hit on one day in the 142-year history of Major League Baseball. There were 62 home runs hit on July 2, 2002, a day on which 16 games were played. The 58 homers set a record for the most longballs on a day on which 15-or-fewer games were played; the previous record of 57 was set in the 15 games played on April 7, 2000.

This season, there has been an average of 2.54 home runs per game (for both teams combined), which is on target to surpass, rather handily, the all-time record high of 2.34 homers per game, set in 2000.

According to ELIAS – Tribe’s K-Fest streak broken and Aaron Slegers

Tribe’s K-fest finally broken at Minnesota

Carlos Carrasco struck out nine batters over five innings and Cleveland’s bullpen struck out 10 more in the Indians’ 9–3 victory at Minnesota. That tied the team record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game, set in 2015 and tied earlier this season.

It also extended Cleveland’s streak of games with at least 10 strikeouts to 13, which is the longest streak in MLB history. The previous mark of nine consecutive 10-strikeout games was set earlier this season by the Diamondbacks and matched by the Yankees. The Indians more than doubled the former record of six straight games that was set by the Mets in 1990 and which stood until five years ago.

The streak ended when Cleveland pitchers struck out only nine Twins batters in the second game of the doubleheader.

 

Another Twins starting pitcher makes his MLB debut

Aaron Slegers made his major-league debut as the Twins’ starting pitcher in the second game of their doubleheader against the Indians. This is the first time since the team moved to Minnesota in 1961 that four Twins players made their major-league debuts as starting pitchers in one season. The others were Nik Turley, Felix Jorge, and Dietrich Enns.

The last time that four pitchers did so for the Washington Senators, the Twins’ predecessors, was in 1950. The fourth of those pitchers to debut was Carlos Pascual, whose 1–1 career record was overshadowed by that of his brother Camilo, who debuted for the Nats in 1954 and ranks fifth in franchise history with a total of 145 wins.

Aaron Slegers

As for Slegers’ performance, a big thumbs-up, as he allowed two runs on two hits over 6.1 innings in Minnesota’s 4–2 win. Over the last four seasons, only three other starting pitchers reached the seventh inning and allowed fewer than three hits in their major-league debuts: Ross Stripling of the Dodgers and Jharel Cotton of the A’s last season and Eric Skoglund of the Royals on May 30.

According to ELIAS – Indians enjoy Target Field

Indians feel at home in Minneapolis

 
The Cleveland Indians defeated the Twins yesterday for their ninth straight win at Target Field. That’s the second-longest current road winning streak by one major-league team over another; the Astros have won their last 10 games at the Oakland Coliseum. It’s Cleveland’s longest road winning streak against one team since taking 13 straight against the Angels in Anaheim from 1973 to 1975.

According to ELIAS – Brian Dozier

Bull Dozier steamrolls in Detroit

Brian Dozier

Brian Dozier led off Sunday’s game at Comerica Park with a homer off Matt Boyd, and the Twins went on to win, 6-4, to take the rubber game of the series. It was Dozier’s 25th home run leading off the first inning over the last five seasons, second-most in the majors behind Charlie Blackmon (27). Dozier now has 10 home runs since the All-Star break; only two other American League players have as many: Joey Gallo (11) and Nelson Cruz (11). Over the past two seasons, Dozier has 38 post-All-Star break homers; no other player has more than 31.