Rosario, Homer-Happy Twins Romp Past White Sox 11-4
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Eddie Rosario went 4 for 5 with three RBIs and one of Minnesota's three home runs in another power-packed romp by the major league-leading Twins, who beat the Chicago White Sox 11-4 on Friday night for their ninth win in their last 10 games.
Max Kepler was 3 for 4 with four RBIs and a homer and Miguel Sanó also went deep for the Twins (34-16), who reached double-digit runs for the fourth time in their last eight games and became only the second team in baseball history to hit the 100-homer mark in just 50 games. They have the most runs (300) in the majors.
Jose Berrios (7-2) was the latest beneficiary of the big swings, after falling behind 4-1. Rosario tied the game in the third with his 15th homer. Two batters later, Sanó swatted a 2-2 changeup from Reynaldo López (3-5) into the seats for his fifth long ball in seven games this season since coming off the injured list.
Tim Anderson went 3 for 3 and Yonder Alonso drove in two runs for the White Sox.
The Twins arrived home from a seven-game West Coast road swing extended by one day due to a rare California rainout in good spirits and in even better shape in the standings, winning three out of four in Seattle against the Mariners before sweeping the Los Angeles Angels. After outscoring their opponents 67-27 during the trip, the Twins built an eight-game lead in the American League Central over three-time defending division champion Cleveland. The Indians won Friday to keep pace.
If there was a nit to pick, that was in the second when shortstop Jorge Polanco sidearmed a throw to first base after fielding a routine grounder by Eloy Jimenez and watched it sail over C.J. Cron's head for an error. That triggered a four-run inning against Berrios, though three of them were unearned.
The last three starts by Berrios have been his worst three of 11 turns, with 29 hits and 13 runs allowed over 17 innings.
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