Sano homers twice, hits roof at Tropicana Field

ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. – Miguel Sano is so strong, he hit a baseball Sunday farther than anyone ever has before in Tropicana Field's 19-year major league history.

Straight up.

Sano's rocket became the first fair ball ever to deflect off the dome's cream-colored fabric roof in fair territory, where it's at its highest peak. The ball made contact some 210 feet or so above Sano's head — "It would've hit the roof if it was 30 feet higher," marveled Twins manager Paul Molitor — then came down in Rays third baseman Evan Longoria's glove in short left field, an impressive but inconsequential popup.

Fortunately, Sano wasn't done punishing baseballs. The slugger crushed a 400-footer next to a party deck in straightaway center field for three runs in the third inning, then lined a missile into the seats in left-center in the ninth, powering the Twins to their eighth victory in 11 games, 6-3 over the Rays, and rendering moot any discussion of returning him to the minor leagues.

"A lady outside told me I'm the first person to hit the [roof]," Sano said. "It's impressive that I can hit a ball like that, but then after that, two home runs in the game [are] better."

Sano even made a nice running grab and throw in the ninth, turning a Logan Forsythe ground ball into the final out of the Twins' road trip, which they finished with an encouraging 5-2 record.

"It's fun when you're struggling, and all of a sudden everything switches back and you start hitting homers and you start seeing better pitches and you start taking walks," said Sano, who has now matched the 18 home runs he hit as a rookie in 2015.

"I'm a fan," Molitor said of the All-Star third baseman. "I want to watch him play the game. He certainly did a lot of damage against us."

But the Twins did even more, led by Sano. Brian Dozier also doubled a run home, and scored another on a Max Kepler sacrifice fly, as the Twins twice this weekend scored more than three runs, something Tampa Bay pitchers had not allowed for 10 games entering the series.

Kyle Gibson earned the victory and broke his 0-for-4 jinx against the Rays, though he lasted only five innings, giving up six hits, four walks and two runs. "Not enough strikes, and grinding in all counts," Molitor said of Gibson's day. "But his last couple of innings were better than his first."

Twins players gathered around TV screens in their clubhouse Sunday morning, watching Alex Rodriguez's retirement announcement. The three-time MVP, who won a world championship with the 2009 Yankees, will play his final game Friday, having collected 3,114 hits and 696 home runs.

His major league career began 42 days after Twins righthander Jose Berrios was born, and while Molitor, soon to be 60, still had more than four seasons remaining in his career. He homered 51 times against the Twins, more than any player in history except Jim Thome and Frank Thomas, including 21 in the Metrodome.

"The game doesn't wait for anybody. Sooner or later, you've got to move on," Molitor said. Thinking back to his own retirement after the 1998 season, Molitor said "it's tough when you do something for a long time — roughly half your life has been spent in a major league uniform. You think sometimes the game's going to last forever, but it's just not the reality. You just have to deal with it, the physical part of letting go. It's not instantaneous, but somewhere down the road you let go of the mental side, too."

Ken Carson, president of the Florida State League, visited Tropicana Field on Friday to hand-deliver a letter to Joe Mauer.

"Congratulations," it read, "on your selection into the Florida State League Hall of Fame."

"That's pretty neat," Mauer said of the honor from the Class A minor league. "I didn't really play there that long."