Consistent at-bats key for historic Twins

BALTIMORE -- The Twins and Orioles banged out 17 homers in Saturday’s doubleheader. That was the most homers in one stadium in one day in Major League history.

The Twins hit 11 of those round-trippers, eight of which came in the nightcap, as they swept the doubleheader. Those eight homers tied a single-game club record set on August 29, 1963, in the first game of a doubleheader against the Washington Senators. Manager Rocco Baldelli doesn’t expect a repeat of that performance today -- but he’d like to see his team keep swinging the bats well.

“It was a special day,” Baldelli said. “It was a special offensive day for our guys, and you always hope to re-create something like that, but I haven’t seen anything like that.”

The 11 homers the Twins hit fell one shy of the team record for most in a doubleheader -- also set in the 1963 doubleheader vs. Washington. But the skipper is hoping for a bit of a carry-over effect.

“It’s definitely cool to be part of that,” Baldelli said. “It’s cool for us and for our guys. Hopefully, they keep that feeling and the confidence factor is high, and I think that matters, so I think hopefully if we can keep that going it will be a good thing.”

Eddie Rosario finished 5-for-9 with three homers and four RBIs for the day. Former Orioles second baseman Jonathan Schoop was 4-for-8 with two homers and two doubles along with four RBIs.

Overall, the Twins became the first team in baseball history with four players with multi-homer games in one day -- Rosario, Schoop, Mitch Garver and Nelson Cruz.

The Twins come into Sunday’s game with a .275 team batting average, tops in the Majors. That’s why a carry-over effect from Saturday’s work could help the Twins even more.

“We have guys that have a long track record of hitting,” Baldelli said. “We have some younger players who are really coming into their own offensively. We might never see another night like that ever again, but as far as the consistent good ABs, I would expect to see that continuing.”

Baldelli also said that outfielder Max Kepler and pitcher Blake Parker are slowly coming back from a bug working its way through the team.

Neither played in the doubleheader Saturday. Baldelli said they might be available on Sunday, but only for the bare minimum and in an emergency situation.