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
The Twins defeated the Blue Jays 13–7 to salvage a split of a 4-game home series. Eddie Rosario hit two homers, number 25 and 26 of the season. Rosario now has hit 15 home runs in his last 40 games, since August 6. Since they moved to Target Field in 2010, only three other Twins players have hit 15+ homers over 40 games: Trevor Plouffe in 2012, whose best span was 18 homers in 40 games, Josh Willingham in 2012, whose best span was 16 in 40 games, and Brian Dozier last season, whose best span was 22 homers in 40 games. (Dozier also had a span that overlapped the 2016 and 2017 seasons with 15 homers over 40 games.)
Byron Buxton hit a walkoff home run to beat the Blue Jays last night, one night after Eddie Rosario won a game for the Twins with a walkoff homer. That is the first time since 1970 that the Twins won two consecutive games on walkoff homers. George Mitterwald and Jim Holt turned the trick on August 6 and 7 that season.
Eddie Rosario’s home run in the bottom of the tenth inning gave the Twins a 3-1 win over the Padres last night at Target Field. Rosario was just 1-for-18 in extra innings in his career entering the contest. Rosario’s homer was the 46th of his career, but it was the first that gave his team the lead in the eighth inning or later.
The top half of the Twins’ lineup struck early and often in Minnesota’s 17–0 victory over the Royals. The first five batters in the Twins lineup––Brian Dozier, Joe Mauer, Byron Buxton, Jorge Polanco, and Eduardo Escobar––each finished with multiple runs scored and multiple runs batted in. It is the second time this season that five or more players did that in a game for the Twins; six players produced at least two runs and two RBIs for Minnesota on June 13 versus the Mariners. No other team in the majors has had even one game of that kind since the start of last season.
Big night for Escobar
Eduardo Escobar
Eduardo Escobar did the most damage for the Twins, driving in six runs with a triple and pair of home runs. Escobar’s 11 total bases were more than the Royals compiled as a team (seven). Escobar became the third Twins player to total more than 10 bases in a game this season, joining Eddie Rosario (13 total bases on June 13) and Byron Buxton (13 on August 27). Two other teams this season have had at least three games in which a player finished with more than 10 bases. Five Nationals players have had such a game this season (Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon, Jayson Werth, Michael Taylor, Ryan Zimmerman), while the Braves have had three such games (two by Freddie Freeman, one by Matt Kemp).
Historic score for Minnesota
The 17 runs scored by the Twins on Saturday are the most by any major-league team in a shutout victory this season. Saturday’s win also marked the first time in Twins/Senators franchise history that the team scored at least 17 runs in a game while keeping its opponent off the scoreboard––an impressive feat considering the franchise has posted more than 1100 shutout wins in its 117 seasons.
While 17–0 looks more like the final score of an NFL game, consider that the Chiefs have never scored fewer than 10 points in any of their 12 matchups against the Vikings. And only one of the Vikings’ 901 games––including the regular season and postseason––ended 17–0. Minnesota defeated Chicago by that score on November 3, 1974.
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).
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.
Justin Upton flung the ball into the air and the bat out of his hands as his second walk-off homer of the year lifted the Detroit Tigers to a 12-11 win over Minnesota at Comerica Park last night. The home run was part of a six-run comeback Detroit compiled over the final three innings to stun the hot-hitting Twins and snap their season-high six-game winning streak.
Matt Belisle
The Tigers jumped on Jose Berrios and the Twins for a 5-0 lead after just one inning of play but then Paul Molitor‘s boys came back with all their bats blazing and put up 11 of the next 12 runs between the third and sixth innings to take a commanding 11-6 lead. Matt Belisle gave up the walk-off blast by Upton but the relievers before him, Trevor Hildenberger gave up 1 run and Dillon Gee gave up 4 runs of which 3 were earned. Only Ryan Pressly went unscathed in his 2/3 of an inning.
The hitters had a night to remember, 11 runs on 19 hits and a walk, a HBP and an error thrown in for good measure. Eddie Rosario, Max Kepler and Joe Mauer all hit home runs. Everyone that stepped to the plate for Minnesota had at least one hit and Brian Dozier and Jason Castro had 3 apiece.
It is tough to lose a nine inning game when you get 19 hits and score 11 runs, how tough is it? Not counting tie games the Twins have played 9,048 games since they started play in 1061. In those 9,048 the Twins have played 66 nine inning games when they have had at least 11 hits and scored 19 or more runs, their record in those kinds of games is now 64-2.
Willie Banks
Prior to last night the only time the Twins lost a game like this was on August 4, 1992 at Comiskey Park II. The Twins must like hitting against the pitchers from Chicago’s south side as the Twins have had 12 games like this against the White Sox and won 11 of them. The one loss was that game in 1992 when the White Sox blew out the Twins 19-11. This is a game that Willie Banks will never forget, Banks pitched 1.2 inning of relief and gave up 10 earned runs after relieving Twins starter Bill Krueger who lasted just 2 innings giving up 7 earned runs. This game was a blow out from the get-go and last night game was a back and forth affair that was won with a walk-off home run. Either way you have to put a game like this in the “bad beat” category.
Eddie Rosario delivers key blow for Twins at Detroit
Eddie Rosario
Eddie Rosario’s three-run homer in the fourth inning gave the Twins a lead that they never gave up in Minnesota’s 9-4 victory at Detroit last night. The home run was Rosario’s 15th this season, but only his second with more than one runner on base. The other three-run shot was his first homer this season, and it also came against the Tigers. Friday’s homer at Comerica Park was only Rosario’s third in a road game this season. Among the 112 major-league players with at least 15 homers this season, only one other player has hit at least 80 percent of his circuit clouts at home: Cincinnati’s Eugenio Suarez has hit 17 of his 20 home runs at Great American Ball Park.
The Twins powered up against Matt Garza and company, slamming five home runs in their 11–4 victory over the Brewers. Max Kepler and Eddie Rosario, who each homered twice for Minnesota, became the first Twins duo in just over six years to hit multiple homers in the same game. Michael Cuddyer and Delmon Young each hit a pair of four-baggers for Minnesota on August 3, 2011 at Angel Stadium.
Clutch grand slams for both Dozier and Lamb
Brian Dozier
Brian Dozier also homered for the Twins on Tuesday, with his grand slam turning a one-run deficit into a three-run lead for Minnesota. Jake Lamb replicated that feat for the Diamondbacks later in the night, homering off Dodgers reliever Tony Watson with the bases loaded to give Arizona a 6–3 lead (the D-Backs won by that same score). There was one other day this season in which multiple players hit a go-ahead grand-slam home run with his team trailing at the time. And on that day – June 3 – there were four players that hit home runs of that kind! Those trailing-to-leading salamis were produced by Matt Adams, Kyle Schwarber, Travis Shaw, and Chris Taylor.
Eddie Rosario scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning on a two-out balk by Oliver Drake, and Ryan Pressly and Matt Belisle kept the Brewers off the board as the Twins took a 5-4 decision in Minneapolis. This was the first time since the franchise moved from Washington to Minnesota in 1961 that the Twins won a game with the go-ahead and final run coming home on a balk in the seventh inning or later. The last such win by any major-league team came on July 16 of last year, when the Padres won, 7-6, in 10 innings on a walk off balk by Giants reliever Santiago Casilla.
