Plouffe, Suzuki make Twins lineup look good

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – Paul Molitor hit on a lineup he really likes Friday. You know, the one where the cleanup hitter homers twice.

Trevor Plouffe, batting fourth, bashed his third and fourth home runs of the spring, Kurt Suzuki shrugged off a painful foul ball off his Achilles' tendon to hit two homers of his own, and the Twins clubbed the Rays 6-1 at Charlotte Sports Park.

Ervin Santana lived up to his Opening Day starter status by pitching six shutout innings, and the Twins won for the fourth time in five games.

It was the third time this week that Molitor has employed a lineup with Joe Mauer batting second, Miguel Sano third and Plouffe fourth, and from Molitor's reaction, it appears that alignment might become a fixture once the season begins in 10 days.

"Of all the things I've thought about, putting those guys up there [gives us] a combination of experience and explosiveness," the second-year Twins manager said. "I'm kind of leaning that way right now."

Plouffe is no stranger to the cleanup spot, having batted there in 81 games over his career. (Actually, he's hit anyplace from second to seventh in at least 67 games.) But Molitor said he senses the job may be a particularly good fit for this point of his career.

"He's probably not going to hit 40, but we all know he's capable of hitting in that slot because he knows how to get a hit, and he knows how to get it over the fence now and then," Molitor said. "I don't think it fazes him too much if he's third, fourth, fifth. Right now, I'm liking him and Sano" hitting back-to-back.

Plouffe's two homers were nearly identical: inside fastballs from Rays lefthander Drew Smyly that he turned on and crushed deep over the left-field boardwalk. The second one came after a Sano walk, giving him three RBI on the day.

"It's a big year for him. He's heading into free agency" after the 2017 season, Molitor said. "There's money out there. There are people in his category who are getting extended."

Meanwhile, Suzuki doubled in the third inning and homered in the fifth, then nearly left the game in the seventh after fouling a pitch off his Achilles.

"He has a way of beating himself up pretty good. That was a solid hit; I didn't know if he'd be able to continue," Molitor said.

On the next pitch from reliever Jhan Marinez, though, "he got a changeup and smoked it" for his second homer of the day.

It was plenty of offense for Santana, who said "it's an honor" to be chosen to open the season April 4 — the first time in his 11-year major league career that he will start the first game. "You get matched up against some pretty good pitching in the first part of the season," Molitor said, "but we feel the way he's throwing, he's the most qualified to give us a chance to win those games."

Looked like it Friday, when Santana hit 95 miles per hour with his fastball and struck out eight with no walks.

"His slider must have been really good, because he got some funny swings from some pretty good hitters," the manager said. "He had a little extra when he needed, too."