MINNEAPOLIS -- Before Monday’s game,
\n\n.@ncboomstick23 in this 4-game series:
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) August 18, 2020
6-for-12
4 HR
5 RBIs
5 R
2B
2 BBs
\uD83D\uDD25\uD83D\uDD25\uD83D\uDD25\uD83D\uDD25\uD83D\uDD25\uD83D\uDD25#TwinsWin | #MNTWins pic.twitter.com/Wip8NmYUxx
Cruz shattered a scoreless tie in the fourth inning by crushing a fastball from Kansas City starter Kris Bubic off the facing of the second deck in left field for a 416-foot solo blast. He added an important late insurance run in the seventh with an even longer shot that traveled an estimated 428 feet into the bullpens in left-center.\n\nAt 40 years and 47 days old, Cruz became the oldest hitter with a multi-homer game since David Ortiz accomplished the feat at 40 years and 172 days old on May 8, 2016. It marked Cruz’s second two-homer game of the season and the 36th of his career, and pushed him into the team lead with eight homers. He also led the Twins with 41 blasts a year ago.\n\nHe extended his American League-leading RBI total to 23, the most in history by a player age 40 or older through the first 23 games of a season.\n\n“I think it’s amazing,”
Cruz keeps showing the Royals by example, too, though they’d probably rather avoid that. After going 3-for-10 with a homer last weekend at Kauffman Stadium, Cruz added six hits, including four homers, in this four-game set at Target Field. He’s now 9-for-22 (.409) against Kansas City with five blasts in seven games this season, continuing his career-long dominance of his division opponents.\n\nMonday’s homers came on a pair of hanging fastballs. One wonders why the Royals even bother with those pitches against Cruz at this point.\n\n\"I would probably mix up what I'm doing or just nibble,” Twins opener
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli thinks that changing up the approach against Cruz likely wouldn’t work, anyway.\n\n“He has a few different approaches that he uses with different types of pitchers, and you see him very clearly changing what he's doing because there's a few different methods he can use,” Baldelli said. “When he knows guys go up in the zone, he's got a very different swing than when he knows guys are going to pitch him in or try to sink him down in the zone or a breaking-ball-heavy situation.\n\n“He's a very intellectual guy and a guy that understands the game and pitchers and especially himself, very, very well. It's combining incredible ability with wisdom and a great mix, and he brings it out there and does that very well every night.”
Cruz’s pair of homers and RBI singles from