TWINS BECOME FIRST TEAM TO HIT HOMERS IN FIRST SEVEN INNINGS
MINNEAPOLIS» Jason Castro homered twice, Brian Dozier was a double from the cycle and the Twins pounded the Padres 16-0 on Tuesday night.
Minnesota hit a season-high seven home runs, setting a Target Field record for most homers in a game, to back another strong start from Kyle Gibson. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Twins set a major-league record by homering in each of the first seven innings with Jorge Polanco, Eddie Rosario, Eduardo Escobar and Kennys Vargas adding to the total.
Gibson (10-10) pitched six innings with four hits and six strikeouts. He has allowed two runs or fewer in five straight starts for Minnesota, which maintained its hold on the second wild-card spot in the American League.
TUESDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
Adeiny Hechavarria hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning off Sonny Gray and the Rays, playing as the home team in a series relocated to Citi Field because of Hurricane Irma, beat the Yankees 2-1. Tampa Bay has split the first two games of the set held at the home of the Mets. … Eric Thames hit his 29th home run, Domingo Santana went 3 for 4 with two RBIs and the Brewers beat the Pirates 5-2. Gerrit Cole (11-10) took his first loss in 10 road starts since the Atlanta Braves beat him 5-2 on May 22.… Freddie Freeman hit a three-run home run off Gio Gonzalez and Julio Teheran threw seven shutout innings as the Braves cruised to an 8-0 victory over the Nationals, who were fresh off clinching the NL East. Gonzalez (14-7) allowed five earned runs on seven hits in five innings and struck out eight. … Brandon Moss hit a grand slam in the first inning for his third consecutive game with a homer, powering the Royals to a 4-3 victory over the White Sox .… Richard Urena singled home the winning run in the ninth inning and the Blue Jays rallied to beat the Orioles 3-2, handing Baltimore its sixth straight loss. … Mookie Betts hit two home runs and a two-run triple, and the Red Sox rolled past the Athletics 11-1. … Kris Bryant hit a threerun homer, Jose Quintana pitched seven effective innings and the Cubs beat the Mets 8-3. … Paul DeJong homered, Yadier Molina drove in three runs and the streaking Cardinals outslugged the Reds 13-4. … Ben Gamel and Kyle Seager both hit three-run homers and the Mariners beat the Rangers 10-3 in a matchup of wildcard hopefuls.
FOOTNOTES
MLB starts earlier than ever in 2018.
Major League Baseball unveiled its 2018 schedule, with a full slate of games scheduled to take place on Opening Day on March 29 — the earliest starting date in the sport’s history, excluding international openers. It will be the first time since the 1968 season — the last year before the American and National Leagues split into divisions — that every team will play on Opening Day. As part of the sport’s new labor contract, each team’s 162 games were scheduled over 186 days, up from 183. The tentative schedule adds four off days for every team. … As the Marlins played at Philadelphia, manager Don Mattingly said the team expects to learn Wednesday whether this weekend’s series against the Brewers will be played as scheduled in Miami or be moved to an alternate, as-yet-undetermined site because of the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.