The Twins are doing their best to hold onto the second wild card spot, and they did so with some pretty intense power on Tuesday night. They whupped the Padres, 16-0, with seven home runs. That’s not quite the MLB overall record of 10 (courtesy of the 1987 Toronto Blue Jays), but it is an MLB record for consecutive innings with a home run to start a game—as these came one at a time, from the first inning to the seventh.
Brian Dozier, Jorge Polanco, Eddie Rosario, Eduardo Escobar and Kennys Vargas each hit one dinger, while Jason Castro hit two. With this win and the Angels’ loss to the Astros, the Twins have pushed their lead on the final wild card spot up to two games.
Condolences to San Diego starter Travis Wood, who had more home runs allowed (three) than either strikeouts (two) or innings pitched (two and a third).