MINNEAPOLIS _ Max Kepler had hit just one home run since July 3. Eddie Rosario had only two homers since June 26. Brian Dozier had 137 career home runs, but none came with the bases loaded.
So you can't really say anyone saw this coming.
Kepler and Rosario both homered _ twice apiece _ while Dozier smashed an opposite-field grand slam Tuesday night, and the Twins beat Milwaukee 11-4, their third victory in a row.
The five home runs in the first five innings, or one short of the Twins' season high, gave them a sweep of their two-game mini-series with the Brewers, with two more games coming Wednesday and Thursday at Miller Park.
The Twins are within one game of .500 at 55-56 and within 1{ games of the second wild-card spot in the American League.
But there was a dark cloud hovering over this night, too. Adalberto Mejia, the left-handed rookie who had steadily improved since returning to the team in June, threw a strike past Keon Broxton in the fourth inning, then shook the fingers on his pitching hand and motioned for teammate Miguel Sano to summon the trainer. Mejia was quickly pulled from the game, and underwent a series of tests in the team's medical rooms.
The verdict: Mejia had experienced pain in his upper arm, the team said, and would require more extensive testing.
Mejia wasn't particularly sharp on this night, surrendering hits in all four innings. But the Brewers had scored only one run when he left the game, on a successful squeeze bunt in the second inning by Broxton, the first squeeze the Twins had allowed in more than a year. Mejia was also charged with two more runs when reliever Tyler Duffey gave up an RBI groundout to Jonathan Villa and a double by Domingo Santana.
Any angst about Mejia's condition, though, quickly faded for a large Target Field crowd by the Twins' hitting fireworks. Kepler smacked a two-run shot onto the plaza in right. Rosario crushed a shot to straightaway center field. Dozier, who hadn't hit a homer with even two runners on base since last Sept. 2, connected on an opposite-field grand slam in the fifth, and Kepler followed with a back-to-back shot even deeper to right.
All those homers came off former Twins right-hander Matt Garza, who allowed eight runs while recording just 10 outs, ballooning his ERA from 3.68 to 4.34.
And Rosario just added to the fun with his second homer of the night, the third time in his career he's done that.
Duffey pitched the fifth inning as well, before recently recalled Dillon Gee closed the game out by pitching four shutout innings for his first career save.
