MINNEAPOLIS _ Miguel Sano entered Monday's game in the ninth inning as a pinch hitter. He ended it seconds later.
Sano blasted the second pitch he saw over the center-field fence, catapulting the Twins over the Atlanta Braves 5-3 in the first of the three-game interleague series at Target Field.
When it comes to limiting home runs, Atlanta Braves righthander Mike Soroka is about as anti-bomba as they come.
Soroka entered Monday having allowed a scant six home runs on the season. He throws an excellent sinking fastball as well as complementary pitches that make it difficult for opponents to launch balls into the seats.
He also has been tough on righthanded hitters, limiting them to a .198 batting average.
"Their starter has done a really nice job overall, also against righthanded hitters," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said before the game. "We have a lot of ability here with our roster and the way we can set up a lineup to do a lot of different things, and if we wanted to put a lineup out there at different points with a bunch of lefties, we can do that."
The homer-happy Twins sat some of their best power hitters in Miguel Sano, C.J. Cron, Mitch Garver and Jonathan Schoop in favor of more lefthanded hitters. The approach worked somewhat, as the Twins and Braves were tied 3-3 in the late innings at Target Field. Twins righthander Jake Odorizzi held the Braves to one run over six innings.
It took a while for the Twins offense to get going, as Soroka retired the first 11 batters he faced. When they eventually reached base, they cashed in.
Nelson Cruz, of all people, reached on an infield hit with two outs in the fourth as he beat out a slow roller up the middle. Eddie Rosario singled, then Marwin Gonzalez beat out a grounder to short to load the bases.
Luis Arraez took a strike before dumping a two-run single to left for the first two runs of the game. The Twins entered the game last in baseball with a .190 batting average with the bases loaded but came through on four consecutive singles.
Atlanta's Freddie Freeman took Odorizzi deep in the fifth to cut the lead in half, but Max Kepler homered to center in the bottom of the inning to restore the Twins' two-run lead. The BombaSquad found a way against a stingy pitcher when it comes to giving up the long ball.
The next issue was how the Twins were going to get the final outs of the game. Odorizzi threw 65 pitches over the first three innings and was pushing 100 pitches in the fifth. Both Taylor Rogers and Sergio Romo had pitched in four of the last six games and needed a break. Getting the final outs of the game were going to be a challenge _ but so was getting to the late innings.
So Baldelli had Odorizzi go out for the sixth, and he responded with a 1-2-3 inning. Odorizzi threw a season-high 109 pitches, and the Twins went with Ryne Harper in the seventh.
Harper got the first out before Ronald Acuna reached on an infield hit then Ozzie Albies singled to rightfielder Jake Cave. Cave mishandled the ball and let it get past him enough for Acuna to score and make it 3-2. After Freeman flied out, Baldelli went with Tyler Duffey against Josh Donaldson. The early returns from their matchups: Donaldson was 3-for-5 with two homers against Duffey.
And Donaldson singled on the first pitch, allowing Albies to score the tying run.
