DETROIT _ The Twins reached 300 home runs and pulled within one win of 100 on Thursday, finishing off a sweep of the Tigers with a 10-4 victory at Comerica Park.
LaMonte Wade played first base, despite never having done that as a professional player, and Ian Miller got the first two major league hits as the Twins hit the 99-victory mark with only a weekend series at Kansas City left in the regular season.
Jonathan Schoop hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs to lead the offense, and rookie Devin Smeltzer (2-2) pitched five innings for the victory.
Twins players spent Wednesday night celebrating their title in a beer-and-champagne heavy gathering at Comerica. Sitting out Thursday were regulars Nelson Cruz, Eddie Rosario, Miguel Sano, Jorge Polanco and C.J. Cron. All four Twins pitchers had spent part of the season in the minor leagues.
Miller's first hit, a single in the third, scored Ronald Torreyes, who had the team's first stolen base in 32 games; their 37 steals are lowest in the major leagues.
The Tigers led 3-2 when the Twins scored four runs in the fifth. Willians Astudillo's RBI single tied it, and Jake Cave's two-run triple gave the Twins the lead for good at 5-3. Cave scored on a wild pitch.
Schoop homered in the seventh, his 23rd of the season. It was team's 300th, a major league record. The Yankees had 299 and are idle today.
If the Twins (99-60) reach 100 victories, it will be the first time in history that three division champions have 100 wins each. The Astros and Yankees have already hit the mark; the Twins are likely to play New York in the first round of the playoffs as Houston can clinch the No. 1 seed tonight if it beats the host Angels.
