MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins unveiled a statue of Hall of Famer Joe Mauer prior to Sunday¡¯s series finale against the Tigers. Unlike Mauer¡¯s No. 7 plaque, they put the statue in a spot outside Target Field where not even Spencer Torkelson could hit it.
¡°Can¡¯t get to that section,¡± Torkelson, who chipped a piece off of Mauer¡¯s plaque in left field with a foul ball two years ago, said with a smile.
That didn¡¯t stop Torkelson from continuing his barrage on the ballpark. Sunday¡¯s home run off Twins starter Simeon Woods Richardson reached the second deck of the left-field seats, a few feet further than his home run Saturday off the facing of the same deck.
It wasn¡¯t enough in Sunday¡¯s 5-1 loss, denying the Tigers¡¯ quest for a series sweep. But it sent Torkelson out of town with another impressive series: 3-for-10, two home runs, a walk, four RBIs and four runs scored.
The hot weekend continued Torkelson¡¯s resurgent season, but his success at Target Field has been a career trend. He¡¯s a .284 (19-for-67) hitter with four doubles, six home runs and 13 RBIs in 18 games there. He has more homers at Target Field than at any other road ballpark.
¡°Maybe I see the ball well here,¡± Torkelson said. ¡°But I definitely feel like I like it here.¡±
Then again, it might be the opponent. Torkelson is hitting .321 (18-for-56) in his last 14 games against the Twins at home and on the road, with three doubles, seven homers, 14 RBIs, four walks and a 1.115 OPS. That includes seven homerless but effective matchups last year, when he split the season between Detroit and Triple-A Toledo.
The Twins are clearly aware of it. Sunday¡¯s homer led off the fourth inning after Woods Richardson threw him a curveball, a changeup and a slider. Torkelson didn¡¯t offer at any of those, and he fouled off two fastballs before finally connecting with another.
¡°Gosh, I missed two good pitches to hit that at-bat,¡± Torkelson said. ¡°Luckily he came back with it, and I¡¯m not going to miss that one.¡±
On Saturday, Torkelson¡¯s sixth-inning two-run homer off lefty Kody Funderburk came in an at-bat in which he didn¡¯t see a fastball, instead pouncing on a hanging backup slider. He had a sacrifice fly in the first inning of that game off a Chris Paddack curveball, and a fourth-inning leadoff single off a fastball after he declined to chase a couple of Paddack changeups off the plate.
¡°He¡¯s just staying very grounded in what he¡¯s doing and what he¡¯s trying to do,¡± manager A.J. Hinch said. ¡°There¡¯s a mix of good approach, good execution, long at-bats. He stayed within himself. There¡¯s not much not to like, given how in control of his at-bats he is. Obviously really proud of what he¡¯s doing, and we need him.
¡°He¡¯s in the middle of the lineup for a reason. He¡¯s earned his way back into that. Just continuing to get good pitches to hit helps the good results, and he¡¯s certainly doing that now.¡±
As the Tigers head to Milwaukee for three games against the Brewers, Torkelson is the hitter that opponents worry about. While Torkelson tore up Target Field, Riley Greene went 0-for-11 with two walks, a run scored and six strikeouts. Three strikeouts came Sunday, when Hinch flipped the batting order to put Greene in front of Torkelson.
¡°I¡¯m missing fastballs right down the middle,¡± Greene said. ¡°Just trying to get on time and be aggressive and really not guess, because I find myself guessing sometimes when I get into these kind of things.¡±
Greene¡¯s first two strikeouts came with a runner on base against Woods Richardson, taking a 1-2 slider for a called third strike in the first inning, then fanning on a 94 mph fastball in the third. Perhaps that¡¯s why Twins manager Rocco Baldelli stuck with Woods Richardson against Kerry Carpenter and Greene hitting back-to-back with a runner on and two outs in the fifth inning.
After Carpenter was hit by a 3-2 pitch, Greene almost made them pay, fouling off a first-pitch fastball over the heart of the plate, then connecting with a 1-1 changeup and flying out to right.
¡°I did square it up. I just hit it too high,¡± Greene said. ¡°I had three opportunities with runners in scoring position, 0-for-3 on them. Gotta be better. Can¡¯t happen.¡±
As intertwined as Torkelson¡¯s and Greene¡¯s careers have been, they¡¯ve rarely, if ever, heated up during the same stretch, either due to injuries or slumps. Greene will eventually find his timing. If Torkelson can stay hot, Detroit¡¯s offense could take off, which makes Torkelson¡¯s feelings on his tear even more encouraging.
¡°Normal,¡± Torkelson said. ¡°It feels good, but it feels relaxed. It feels like me.¡±