The Minnesota Twins made some more history on Thursday afternoon, becoming the first team to hit 300 home runs in a season.
One day after clinching the American League Central Division title, the Minnesota Twins were on their way to more history when they squared off with the Detroit Tigers on Thursday afternoon. Fielding a lineup that may have been impacted by the Twins’ celebration the night before, that didn’t stop Minnesota before becoming the first team in MLB history to hit 300 home runs in a single season during a 10-4 win over the Tigers.
The Twins would start the afternoon off on a positive note as Ian Miller would collect his first major league hit and RBI that drove in Ronald Torres to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning, but the Tigers would answer off starter Devin Smeltzer on a RBI groundout by Miguel Cabrera to tie things up in the bottom half.
After Jonathan Schoop drove in Willians Astudillo with a RBI single in the top of the fourth, the Tigers answered with two in the bottom half on RBI singles from Harold Castro and Victor Reyes to take a 3-2 advantage.
As the game went into the fifth inning, the Twins would score four runs highlighted by a Jake Cave triple that drove in a pair and even as Reyes chipped into the lead with a RBI single in the sixth, that’s when the Bomba Squad would take over.
In the top of the seventh, Schoop would come to the plate and blast his 23rd home run of the year to right field, marking the 300th home run for the Twins this season and breaking the milestone that had seemed within reach. While LaMonte Wade Jr. would drive in another run on an infield single, Astudillo would deliver his fourth home run of the season in the eighth inning to complete the 10-4 victory.
The victory was the Twins’ 99th of the season and Minnesota will have a chance for its second 100-win season in franchise history (and first since 1965) as they head to Kansas City to open a three-game set on Friday.
In the opener, the Twins will send Jose Berrios (13-8, 3.70 ERA) to the mound with hopes he’ll improve off his last start against Kansas City last Saturday when he gave up five runs in six innings during a 12-5 defeat. He’ll oppose Eric Skoglund for Kansas City, who took the loss at Target Field on Sept. 20 allowing a pair of runs over four innings in a 4-3 Twins’ victory.