NEW YORK -- Twins third baseman Miguel Sano connected on the hardest-hit homer of his career in the first inning of Minnesota's 7-4 loss to the Yankees on Wednesday, crushing a two-run shot off right-hander Sonny Gray that had an exit velocity of 114.6 mph, per Statcast™.
Sano, who has 76 career homers since debuting in 2015, jumped all over a 1-0 changeup from Gray, delivering it a Statcast-projected 440 feet to left-center. It was more of a line drive than a majestic blast, as it had a low launch angle of 19 degrees.
Sano's previous highest exit velocity on a homer was 114.2 mph, set on Aug. 7, 2016, against Rays right-hander Ryan Garton. Wednesday's homer also tied for the hardest-hit ball in Sano's career, as he also had a single with an exit velocity of 114.6 mph on April 30, 2017.
Since Statcast™ debuted in 2015, only Kennys Vargas has hit a homer harder than Sano's blast on Wednesday. Vargas owns the two hardest-hit homers for the Twins since then, with an exit velocity of 116 mph on June 10, 2017, and 114.7 mph on May 9, 2017.
The homer was Sano's team-leading fifth of the season and his second career homer off Gray.