Twins set all-time MLB record with 307 HRs
Cron, Cave, Castro go deep in Game 162 to oust ALDS foes in season-long slugfest
https://www.mlb.com/twins/news/twins-hit-3-homers-set-all-time-mlb-record
KANSAS CITY --
Jason Castro pumped his fist as he rounded the bases following his record-breaking homer.
Castro didn’t know until after the game that the homer was far more important than he initially thought.
The postseason hasn’t even started yet, but
the Twins gathered some symbolic momentum in Sunday afternoon’s 5-4
walk-off loss to the Royals at Kauffman Stadium before the upcoming
American League Division Series by emerging triumphant in a season-long
battle against the Yankees.
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Box score
The Bomba Squad entered the day with 304 home
runs, trailing the Bronx Bombers by one in the back-and-forth quest for
the all-time home run title. New York added one with an Aaron Judge
blast against the Rangers, but Minnesota rose to the challenge and
triumphed with three homers, capped by Castro's blast, in Sunday's
defeat, bringing the Twins’ final tally to 307 to stand alone as the
most powerful team in Major League history.
The Twins finished the regular season at
101-61, falling one win shy of the 1965 club’s franchise record for most
wins in a season.
“I don’t think anybody will ever forget the
Bomba Squad, and I mean that,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Over a
six-month season, our guys just went out there and hit more home runs
than any team in the history of baseball. Who knows if it will ever be
broken. You never know. It’s a record, and this game has been played by a
lot of great players for a very long time.”
![[Image: 1f4a3.png]](https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/72x72/1f4a3.png)
Official: The
#BombaSquad takes the
@MLB home-run crown with 307
#Bombas in 2019!
Cruz 41
Kepler 36
Sanó 34
Rosario 32
Garver 31
Cron 25
Schoop 23
Polanco 22
Gonzalez 15
Castro 13
Buxton 10
Cave 8
Adrianza 5
Arraez 4
Astudillo 4
Wade Jr 2
LaMarre 2
Castro’s fifth-inning blast gave the Twins the decisive 307-306 edge,
but his fist pump actually had nothing to do with that. Instead, he had
entered the game with the knowledge that he needed a homer to give the
Twins the most homers hit by catchers in a season in Major League
history -- 44 -- and that’s what he had been celebrating.
It was only as Castro walked through the
tunnel after the game that reliever Trevor May told him that his homer
had delivered the Twins the home run crown.
"So I knew that we were kind of jockeying
back and forth between us and the Yankees,” Castro said. “I actually
didn't know. I thought they had the lead by a few more than they did. I
actually didn't know until after the game that we surpassed them on that
last one. I had no idea."
Neither
C.J. Cron nor
Jake Cave,
who hit Minnesota’s other homers on Sunday, said they knew exactly
where the Twins stood with respect to the Yankees until Minnesota senior
director of communications Dustin Morse told the team in the clubhouse
after the game.
Don’t blame Mitch Garver for that, though. Garver said after the game
that he had been counting down for weeks and was all too aware
throughout Sunday’s game that the Yankees had only scored one run. When
Castro hit Minnesota’s third homer of the game, Garver figured that
would be enough to clinch the record, and he yelled it for all of his
teammates to hear. Apparently, nobody heard him.
"I'm walking up and down the dugout,” said an indignant Garver. “Literally yelling that we have the home run record."
Even with their two most productive sluggers
-- Nelson Cruz and Max Kepler -- on the bench, the Twins wasted no time
in getting the power show started in the first inning, when Cron and
Cave hit back-to-back blasts off Kansas City starter Jorge López to
seize a quick 306-305 lead in the home run tally and a 3-0 advantage in
Sunday’s game.
“Selfishly, it's something that nobody can
ever take from me regardless of what my career is like in baseball,”
Cave said. “I can say, 'Hey, I contributed eight homers to the team that
broke all the home run records.' At least for the time being. For me,
that's really cool.”
Cave’s homer was significant, because it gave
the Twins the homer lead over the Yankees, but Cron’s blast was
arguably more meaningful for Minnesota, as the first baseman’s
problematic bruised thumb is one of the more significant injury
questions facing the Twins as they enter the postseason. In a promising
sign, Cron’s line-drive shot left the bat with an exit velocity of 115.6
mph, his hardest-hit big fly of the season.
“In Spring Training, we had a lot of goals in mind,” Cron said. “I
don’t think the home run record was one of them. Obviously, it’s super
humbling and awesome to have, but the position we’re in now, our focus
is 1,000 percent on the upcoming series. At least I hope so. I’m sure
when we’re all retired and look back, and if it’s still kicking, that
would be cool.”
As the Royals and Twins did battle through
the middle innings, the Yankees punched through the equalizer at Globe
Life Park, courtesy of Judge’s third-inning shot off former Twins
starter Lance Lynn, which pulled the clubs even at 306 homers apiece.
That tie only survived 40 minutes before the Twins again pulled ahead on Castro’s shot -- this time, for good.
But the single-season record wasn’t secure
until an hour and a half later. Only seconds before the Royals walked
off on Brett Phillips’ sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth, Texas
reliever Jose Leclerc finished off the Yankees at Globe Life Park,
officially securing the home run crown for the Twins.
“I think the way we've been swinging the bats
all season, it's just been such a special year, and to cap it off like
this is kind of the cherry on top,” Castro said.
Considering how beat up they are along with playing call-ups I'm surprised they even got to 101 though.