Twins 9, Royals 2: Shades of autumn bomba

It might be the food festival digestives talking, but this game reminded me of all of the fun players we have and how enjoyable it is to watch some Twins baseball when the team is firing on all cylinders.

A steady offensive performance resulted in the Twins’ largest margin of victory in nearly a month, as they finished with a seven-run advantage over Kansas City starter Brady Singer and the rest of the Royals.

As is usually the case when the Bomba Squad veterans carry the game, this one was largely propped up by the long ball. Byron Buxton continued his power tour with a second-deck shot above the bullpens in the first inning; Jorge Polanco shot one into the right field seats in the very next at-bat.

As a whole, Minnesota would hit five home runs in the first five innings - notably, all five with two strikes in the count. Nick Gordon launched his second career homer to deep right center, and Max Kepler followed suit an inning later.

Jorge Polanco would homer again in the fifth, his 29th of the season. One more will take him into the 30-homer club, but perhaps more importantly, he will stand alone with the best single-season home run total out of any switch hitter in team history. Currently, he shares the 29 mark with Chili Davis.

The TV broadcast made note of Michael Pineda’s steady dependability early tonight, and he delivered on that assessment with five innings of one-run ball.

The team would hang up a three-spot during Wade Davis’ lone inning of relief; as Dick, Justin, and fans alike reminisced on his run of absolute dominance with the pennant-winning Royals, Davis allowed a bases-loaded rally (although the Twins were helped by a couple bloopers) that pushed the score out to 9-1.

Kansas City stole one back in the top of the ninth, but there were no late-inning visiting heroics; the hometown boys wrapped up the victory, Rocco Baldelli’s 200th as the manager of the Minnesota Twins.

STUDS:

CF Byron Buxton (2-for-5, 2 R, RBI, HR)

2B Jorge Polanco (3-for-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR)

RF Max Kepler (2-for-3, 2 R, RBI, HR)

C Ben Rortvedt (2-for-4, RBI)

DUDS:

NO DUDS! TWINS WIN!

ROBOT ROLL CALL: