MINNEAPOLIS — Former Twins star Nelson Cruz hit a third-inning solo homer in Friday's return to Target Field and Tampa Bay teammate Kevin Kiermaier scored on a sixth-inning, inside-the-park homer.
Those two hits helped the Rays beat the Twins, 10-4, in the opener of a three-game series.
Cruz struck out in his first at-bat against Michael Pineda and then hit a line drive into the left-field stands on a one-strike count in his next time up.
It was his first game at Target Field since the Twins traded him for two pitchers on July 22, before the trade deadline.
His 24th homer of the season — and fifth as a Ray — gave Tampa Bay a 4-0 lead in a game in which they scored in five of the first six innings and appeared headed toward their seventh win in their past eight games.
The Twins cut a 5-0 deficit to 5-2 with a run each in the fourth and fifth innings.
That's when center fielder Kiermaier struck a ball high off the right-field wall that right fielder Trevor Larnach tried to nab. It bounced all the way back into short right field, where second baseman Jorge Polanco fielded it.
Given the sign to round third, Kiermaier just beat Polanco's throw with a slide in which he reached back and just eluded the tag of catcher Ryan Jeffers. A video review upheld home-plate umpire Roberto Ortiz's on-field call.
Pineda recorded two outs into the third inning before leaving the game with what the team termed "left-side tightness." He threw 47 pitches, 39 of them strikes.
Pineda was replaced by 35-year-old Nick Vincent, who signed a minor league contract in June and made his Twins debut.
Remembering 1991
The Twins began their weekend 30th anniversary celebration of the team's 1991 World Series victory, its second championship in four years.
More than 25 players, coaches and staff returned to remember that seven-game victory over Atlanta that featured pitcher Jack Morris' 10-inning victory in Game 7 at the Metrodome.
"I know there are a lot of people who pull for us still to this day that probably remember that as maybe the most fun they've had as a Twins fan ever," current Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said.
Back in the booth
Hall of Famer and former Twins player and manager Paul Molitor sat in as analyst for Dan Gladden — a member of that 1991 team — during Friday's radio broadcast, when 1991 champions Chili Davis and Scott Leius stopped by separately for visits.
Molitor is doing some roving work with the team's minor league prospects.
"He's spending time with out younger players, talking to them and sharing some things, which I think is fantastic," Baldelli said of his predecessor as Twins manager. "I think he's really enjoying it and I hope our players take advantage of it every way possible."
Etc.
— Injured Twins center fielder Byron Buxton worked out again 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."
— Twins veteran Josh Donaldson returned to start at third base on Friday, as Baldelli promised when Donaldson was used as a designated hitter Tuesday against the White Sox and didn't play Wednesday's day game.
