Correa's career-high 5 hits highlight Twins' 24-hit win

MINNEAPOLIS -- It had been a long while since the up-and-down Minnesota offense just piled on some early runs and had an all-around productive, sustained day at the ballpark -- and the Twins somehow got that, and so much more.

They seemingly never stopped hitting in a wild game that felt more like it took place at the launchpad of Coors Field than at Target Field. Carlos Correa knocked a career-high five hits to lead a season-best 24-hit onslaught, but just about everyone else also packed the stat sheets as the Twins used a five-run first and seven-run eighth to muscle their way to a 17-9 victory on Wednesday.

The 24 hits were the most by a Twins team in a game since June 13, 2017, when they set a team record by clubbing 28 hits against the Mariners in a 20-7 win at Target Field.

“Let’s do it again tomorrow,” Royce Lewis said. “I want 28. Let’s beat the record.”

The Twins have now won three of four after losing six of seven -- and they made an immediate surge towards staying on track, as six of their first seven batters notched hits as part of that five-run first inning.

The Rockies fought back by scoring six runs from the sixth to eighth innings to actually force Twins closer Jhoan Duran into the game, but the Minnesota offense maintained the pressure and turned the game back into a laugher by sending 11 men to the plate in their eighth inning.

Here’s a handful of facts to know about the Twins’ offensive showing:

Correa really wanted this five-hit game
There had been 12 previous games in Correa’s career in which he’d collected four hits -- and he’d already made it 13 by the time the teams dispersed for a 37-minute rain delay during the seventh-inning stretch.

He’d never had a fifth hit -- and he let his teammates know that.

“I was telling the guys I’ve never had a five-hit game during the delay, and they were all rooting for me to get it,” Correa said.

He batted second in the eighth inning and roped a single to right off reliever Nick Mears to finally collect that milestone -- and fist-pumped toward his dugout as he ran to first. He kept it simple and roped four singles -- but grounded out when the Twins batted around to give him a shot at a sixth hit.

“When you’ve got Royce hitting behind you, you feel like one of the at-bats, he’s going to hit a home run that day,” Correa said. “You’re just trying to get on base.”

Lewis celebrated an anniversary in style
Seven years ago to the day, the first Draft selection made under the then-new braintrust of now-president of baseball operations Derek Falvey (he was the chief baseball officer then) and general manager Thad Levine was the first overall pick in the 2017 Draft -- when they surprised many by selecting Lewis.

Lewis’ two-run blast off reliever Angel Chivilli in the sixth marked his 22nd career blast, four more than any other Twin through 80 career games (and Lewis has only played 79), further driving home the point that he simply needs to stay healthy to be a difference-maker.

“Honestly, I feel like at this point, it’s just who I am,” Lewis said. “I just play the game. I have fun and I do what I do.”

It was the fourth time in team history with 10 players recording an RBI
Everybody in the Twins’ starting lineup drove in at least one run, and Max Kepler made it 10 players when he pinch-hit in the eighth inning and knocked a sacrifice fly that plated the Twins’ 17th run.

The Rays also did it last June 30, but it’s the first time a Twins team has had 10 players with an RBI since Sept. 1, 1991, and the fourth such game overall in team history.

Five Twins had three or more hits -- one shy of a club record
Lewis, Kyle Farmer, Carlos Santana and Willi Castro all had three-hit games, giving the Twins five with at least three knocks. Had Manuel Margot, Jose Miranda or Christian Vázquez (two apiece) found another hit, the Twins would have matched a team record set on Aug. 6, 2006, when six players collected three or more hits in an 11-5 win over the Royals.

“I think you've got a guy in [Correa] who's putting good at-bats together,” Farmer said. “We see that he's getting knocks, and hitting is a lot easier when guys are on base.”