Former Twins star slugger Nelson Cruz hit a solo homer in his return to Target Center on Friday night at Target Field and Tampa Bay teammate Kevin Kiermaier scored on a sixth-inning, inside-the-park homer.
The Rays won in a 10-4 rout that's the American League East Division leaders' seventh victory in their past eight games.
Center fielder Kiermaier's inside-the-park homer hit high off the right-field wall. It bounded all the way to short right field, and Kiermaier beat second baseman Jorge Polanco's throw home. Video review upheld plate umpire Roberto Ortiz's call that Kiermaier reached back on his slide just in time to beat the tag by catcher Ryan Jeffers.
"I'll take a homer any way I can get it," said Kiermaier, who now has three this season.
It's the first inside-the-park home run the Twins have allowed since Kansas City's Adalberto Mondesi in 2019 and the first they have allowed at Target Field since Detroit's James McCann hit one in 2015. It was the first inside-the-park homer for either team at the Twins' home since 2017.
Cruz struck out his first time up in his first time back to Target Center since a July 22 trade sent him to the defending AL champions. Then he led off the third inning by hitting starter Michael Pineda's changeup into the left field seats to give Tampa Bay a 4-0 lead.
"That's what Nellie Cruz does," Kiermaier said. "He hits homers and lots of them."
Pineda pitched two outs into the third inning before he left because of what Twins manager Rocco Baldelli called an oblique strain that could sideline him.
BOXSCORE: Tampa Bay 10, Twins 4
"Anytime you're dealing with an oblique injury, you're going to miss some time," Baldelli said. "If It's not overly severe, you're talking a matter of weeks. Ones that are severe are a lot longer than that. We'll wait and see. We'll get him looked at by the doctors and get some imaging as well."
The Twins offense collected 11 hits, including a career-high four from rookie left fielder Brent Rooker. Rooker's first-inning single ened an 0-for-19 streak, dating to Aug. 7.
"It'd be nice to find a happy medium between who I was tonight and who I was the previous three, four games," said Rooker, who went 0-for-4 in Wednesday's victory over the White Sox to drop his batting average to .157 entering Friday. "I think that's all part of it, finding some consistency, learning what that means to me."
Vincent's debut
Pineda was replaced by 35-year-old righthander Nick Vincent, who signed a minor league contract in June and made his Twins debut after his contract was selected Tuesday
from Class AAA St. Paul. He is the 29th pitcher to appear in a game for the Twins in 2021.
Vincent — who has pitched in 406 major league games for six teams since 2012 — pitched 2⅓ innings, giving up three hits and one run, on a Mike Zunino homer.
Remembering 1991
The Twins began their weekend 30th anniversary celebration of their 1991 World Series victory, the franchise's second championship team in five seasons. Members of the 1991 team be introduced before Saturday's 6:10 p.m. game, with first pitch set for 6:45.
"There are a lot of people who pull for us still to this day remember that as the most fun they've had as a Twins fan ever," Baldelli said.
If you televise it…
Baldelli tuned in early and late on an off day to MLB's Field of Dreams game won by the White Sox 9-8 over the Yankees on Tim Anderson's walkoff home in an Iowa cornfield Thursday night.
"It was a lot of fun and they could not have gotten a better baseball game to broadcast," Baldelli said.
Etc.
• Injured Twins center fielder Byron Buxton worked out again on Friday and rehabbed his injured finger, too. Baldelli said a plan for his next week — which could include a stint in St. Paul — will be decided upon "very soon."
• Josh Donaldson returned to start at third base, as Baldelli promised when Donaldson was used as a designated hitter Tuesday and didn't play in Wednesday's game.
