Growing up, Nick Gordon always wanted to be Derek Jeter.
Homer-happy Twins rout Royals with five long balls
Byron Buxton, Jorge Polanco (twice), Nick Gordon and Max Kepler combined for more than 2,000 feet of home runs Saturday night.
September 12, 2021 at 5:29AM
On Saturday, during the rookie's 56th game in the majors, his dream to play shortstop finally came true. But he looked more like Alex Rodriguez than Jeter.
Gordon, in the starting lineup at his preferred position for the first time, was steady in the field, but spectacular at the plate. Gordon smashed a slider more than 400 feet off the narrow scoreboard between decks in right field, one of five Twins' homers on the night, and helped Minnesota win for the sixth time in eight games, 9-2 over the Royals.
"He's not the biggest guy in our lineup, but he can certainly snap a ball," said Twins manager Rocco Baldelli, who has started Gordon in the outfield and second base but never shortstop. "He's got some strength in there."
But some nerves, too. Gordon, who played more than 500 games at short in the minor leagues, said he had some trouble sleeping Friday night after Baldelli told him he would play shortstop on Saturday. And it hit him as he warmed up in the top of the first inning.
"I remember right after I signed [as the Twins' first-round pick in 2014], I walked on the field for the first time. I was kind of like, 'Hey man, I definitely can't wait to get this feeling again,' " Gordon said. "When I got my first ground ball in warmups, I looked at the fans, just thought 'Oh man, this is definitely what I dreamed of. Just going out there and playing my position.' "
He wasn't the only one having a great time Saturday.
Byron Buxton lasered a first-inning sinker 444 feet into the seats above the bullpens. Jorge Polanco followed by arcing a sinker into the right-field seats. After Gordon added to the power wave in the second inning, Max Kepler led off the fourth inning by lacing a slider into the limestone overhang in right-center, and Polanco polished off his third two-homer game by drilling a sinker over the high wall in right-center.
More than 2,000 feet of home runs, five in all, all with two-strike counts — and all off the same pitcher, something even the Twins' 2019 record-setting sluggers never managed. Royals starter Brady Singer absorbed the punishment, becoming the first pitcher in more than 58 years to surrender five home runs to the Twins in one game. Cleveland's Gary Bell was victimized by Johnny Goryl (twice), Lenny Green, Don Mincher and Zoilo Versalles on April 29, 1962, the only other time it's happened.
Michael Pineda, making his first start since Aug. 13 due to a strained oblique, was the beneficiary of all the power, not that he needed it. The veteran righthander had only one three-batter inning, but regularly worked his way out of trouble. The lone exception came in the fourth inning, when speedy Michael A. Taylor beat the relay throw on a double-play ball — though the skeptical Twins unsuccessfully challenged the call — allowing Nicky Lopez to score.
But it felt like Gordon's night. He handled the half-dozen chances he received cleanly, even starting an inning-ending double play in the eighth. And he was beaming after the game.
"My dad [former big-league pitcher Tom Gordon] always told me, shortstop is the toughest position on the field," he said. "If you can play there, you can play anywhere."
The eight Twins headed for arbitration are Royce Lewis, Joe Ryan, Jhoan Duran, Bailey Ober, Ryan Jeffers, Willi Castro, Griffin Jax and Trevor Larnach.
