MINNEAPOLIS _ Nelson Cruz once went to home plate, pulled out his phone, and asked umpire Joe West to pose for a selfie with him.
West was behind the plate again Friday, and after what he witnessed Cruz accomplish this time, it's hard to believe he didn't ask Cruz to reciprocate, or autograph his chest protector.
The 39-year-old slugger has been the Twins' designated hitter for only four months, and while there have been numerous selfie-worthy moments, Friday night felt like his Minnesota Masterpiece. Cruz came to the plate four times, and in three of them, either broke a tie or put the Twins in front with an extra-base hit. The last one, a mammoth line drive off the center field wall _ a double, though it would have been a home run had it flown about 10 feet to the left _ scored two runs and delivered an 11-9 victory over the Kansas City Royals to keep his team three games up in the AL Central.
Cruz walked to the bulletin board in the home clubhouse at Target Field a couple of hours before first pitch, just to see his name in print again. It had been missing from the Twins' lineup for three days, while the Twins were playing DH-free NL-style ball in Miami _ the very stadium where Cruz approached West during the 2017 All-Star Game.
The break seemed to make Cruz even stronger.
With the Twins trailing 1-0 in the first inning, Cruz golfed a low-and-inside changeup into the second deck in left-center, a 412-foot blast that scored Max Kepler ahead of him and put the Twins in front, temporarily. Also temporary: Cruz's standing on baseball's all-time home run list. Friday's cannon shot was the 387th of his career, moving him past Aramis Ramirez and into 64th place, just two behind Johnny Bench and three behind Graig Nettles.
twins 11, kansas city 9 6:10 p.m. Saturday (FSN)
By the fifth inning, the Twins had fallen behind 5-4, mostly because starter Martin Perez surrendered two home runs to Hunter Dozier and one to Cam Gallagher and balked home Jorge Soler by halting mid-delivery. It was only the second balk in two years for Twins pitchers.
Cruz allowed Twins fans to forget all that, however, by pounding a 422-foot double off the scoreboard in center field, again just a few feet from a home run. Kepler, who had two doubles and two walks on the night, scored again, tying the game, and Eddie Rosario singled home another run moments later.
And in the seventh, after the Royals tied the game on a pair of doubles by Cheslor Cuthbert and Humberto Arteaga, Cruz put the Twins in front once more with his second long double of the night, this one scoring both Kepler and Jorge Polanco. The inning wound up even bigger, when Miguel Sano and Jason Castro also singled runs home.
All that was left was for the bullpen to put the game away, but that wasn't so easy. Sam Dyson, the just-acquired reliever who didn't retire any of the four batters he faced in his Twins debut Thursday in Miami, gave up a double and two singles to the first three hitters he faced Friday, too, allowing three runs to score on four hits in two-thirds of an inning.
Sergio Romo was summoned for the final four outs for his first save with the Twins, striking out Alex Gordon with two on in the eighth and then retiring the heart of the Royals order _ Dozier, Soler and Cuthbert _ in order in the ninth.
