C.J. Cron blasted a three-run homer and the Minnesota Twins rolled to their sixth straight victory and eighth consecutive on the road by pounding the host Detroit Tigers 13-5 on Friday.
The Twins now have 262 home runs, five shy of the single-season record set by the New York Yankees last season. Seattle hit 264 in 1997.
Minnesota scored 12 runs in the first four innings. Eddie Rosario had two hits, two runs scored and three RBIs. Max Kepler doubled twice, scored three runs and drove in another. Jorge Polanco had three hits and scored twice, while Nelson Cruz collected three hits, a run scored and two RBIs.
Twins starter Kyle Gibson (13-6) lasted five innings, giving up four runs on 10 hits, to collect the win.
Minnesota leads the season series 9-4.
Detroit starter Edwin Jackson (3-8) allowed eight runs (six earned) and seven hits in 2 1/3 innings. John Hicks and Ronny Rodriguez had solo homers for the Tigers, who have lost six straight.
For the second straight game, the Twins scored four first-inning runs. Kepler drew a walk after falling behind 0-2 in the count. Polanco, Cruz and Rosario followed with singles with Cruz and Rosario each knocking in a run.
Tigers shortstop Willi Castro then botched a potential double-play grounder, allowing Cruz to score. Luis Arraez's fielder's choice grounder brought in the fourth run.
Detroit got two of those runs back in the bottom of the inning on Rodriguez's RBI double and Dawel Lugo's run-scoring single.
Minnesota made it 6-2 in the second on Kepler's RBI double and Cruz's sacrifice fly. Detroit scored a run in the bottom of the inning on back-to-back doubles by Hicks and Jake Rogers.
The Twins scored two more runs in the third on Jake Cave's RBI groundout and a passed ball. Rosario's run-scoring groundout and Cron's opposite-field homer increased the Twins' lead to 12-3 in the fourth.
Hicks hit his 11th homer in the bottom of the inning. Rodriguez smacked his 11th in the eighth.
--Field Level Media
Minnesota | Detroit | |
Kyle Gibson | Player | Edwin Jackson |
Win | W/L | Loss |
5.0 | IP | 2.1 |
5 | Strikeouts | 1 |
10 | Hits | 7 |
7.20 | ERA | 23.14 |
Minnesota | Detroit | |
Nelson Cruz | Player | John Hicks |
3 | Hits | 2 |
2 | RBI | 1 |
0 | HR | 1 |
3 | TB | 6 |
.750 | Avg | .500 |