Nelson Cruz comes through for Twins when they need it in victory over Royals

Nelson Cruz once went to home plate, pulled out his phone, and asked umpire Joe West to pose for a selfie with him.

So it was no wonder that West, behind the plate on Friday, greeted Cruz with a question in the first inning. "He asked me if I had my phone with me," Cruz said with a laugh.

Actually, after what he witnessed Cruz accomplish this time, it's hard to believe West didn't ask the Twins slugger to autograph his chest protector.

The 39-year-old 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 three times with the Twins trailing or tied with the Royals, and in all three, he drove in runs with an extra-base hit to either tie the score or put the Twins in front.

The last one, a mammoth line drive off Target Field's center field wall — a double, though it would have been a home run had it flown about 10 feet to the left — drove in two runs and put the Twins ahead for good in a slugfest they went on to win 11-9 and stay three games ahead of Cleveland in the AL Central.

"There aren't many people in the game that can have those types of at-bats on a consistent basis, and put up those runs where he's just squaring everything up," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "He's such a quality hitter. In addition to being strong and driving the ball and hitting it hard, he's just a good hitter on top of it all. It's a lot of fun to watch, even for us in the dugout."

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.

Not that he's thinking about milestones, not in the middle of a pennant race. "As a player, you have to focus on the daily basis, what you can do to help your team," Cruz said.

And he did in the fifth inning, when Twins had fallen behind 5-4 after Martin Perez surrendered two homers to Hunter Dozier, one to Cam Gallagher, and balked home Jorge Soler. 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. 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, Cruz put the Twins in front once more with his second long double of the night, this one scoring both Kepler and Jorge Polanco.

If the wall in right-center wasn't 23 feet tall, or if he'd hit them to center field, he'd have hit three home runs for the second time in a week. Again, not a big deal to Cruz. "They're all good. They drive in runs," said Cruz. "So they're positive."

The same couldn't be said for Sam Dyson, whose second Twins appearance wasn't much better than his first; the veteran righthander, acquired in a trade Wednesday, allowed three runs an recorded two outs. But Sergio Romo got the final four outs to earn his first save with the Twins.