The Twins got an important 5-4 victory Thursday night against the Indians to increase their American League Central lead to 10½ games after losing the first two games of the series in Cleveland.
And while manager Rocco Baldelli decided to leave Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano and Nelson Cruz out of the starting lineup, he did keep Max Kepler in, despite Kepler being 0-for-21 in his past five games. Kepler rewarded Baldelli's faith going 4-for-4 with three homers, the first Twins hitter this season to belt three home runs in a game. It was Kepler's second three-homer game of his career, both coming against the Indians.
It once again showed the benefit of having so much depth on the roster.
One of the new players who has really been a big part of that depth, and a huge part of the club's success this year, is C.J. Cron.
It's hard to understand why the Tampa Bay Rays decided to designate Cron for assignment, allowing the Twins to claim him off waivers last November.
The 29-year-old slugger hit .253 in 140 games with them last season, leading the team with 30 home runs and 74 RBI. On top of that, he wasn't due to be a free agent until 2020 and was under team control in arbitration until then.
"It's part of the business, I guess," Cron said. "Obviously you never want to get released; it doesn't feel very good. But at the same time, I knew I had a good opportunity for me here in Minnesota, and it couldn't have worked out any better."
The Rays' loss has been the Twins' gain.