Field Level Media
Apr 5, 2021
Nelson Cruz hit a pair of homers, including his 10th career grand slam, and drove in five runs, and the visiting Minnesota Twins romped to a 15-6 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Monday.
Willians Astudillo had three hits, drove in two runs and scored another for Minnesota. Andrelton Simmons reached base four times, scored two runs and drove in two more, while Jorge Polanco supplied two hits, a run scored and an RBI.
Matt Shoemaker got the victory in his Twins debut, limiting the Tigers to one run on three hits with no walks and five strikeouts.
Akil Baddoo, who homered in his first major league at-bat on Sunday, hit a ninth-inning grand slam for Detroit. Wilson Ramos and Victor Reyes added solo homers.
Jose Urena, making his Tigers debut, gave up six runs, five earned, on four hits while walking four and striking out five in three innings.
The Twins opened up the scoring in the first. Luis Arraez, who left the game early because of an injury, led off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Polanco followed with a base hit and Arraez scored on right fielder Nomar Mazara's throwing error.
Urena self-destructed in the second as Minnesota extended its lead to 6-0. Walks to Miguel Sano, Simmons and Arraez loaded the bases with two outs. Polanco's infield single off Urena's glove brought in a run.
Cruz nearly hit an opposite-field homer but the ball curved just foul. On the next pitch, Cruz pulled a slider over the left-field wall to make it 6-0.
Cruz led off the fifth with his second homer, another blast to left off reliever Buck Farmer. That kicked off a five-run outburst for an 11-0 lead.
Once again, walks loaded the bases before Simmons slapped a single to left to bring in two runs off Derek Holland. Astudillo followed with a two-run double into the right-center gap.
Ramos got the Tigers on the board in the bottom of the inning with his solo shot to left.
Max Kepler had an RBI double during a two-run sixth for Minnesota. The Twins also scored twice in the seventh.
--Field Level Media