Twins offense hits the mother lode

Torii Hunter's two home runs and seven RBI highlighted a rarely seen Twins power display.

By La Velle E. Neal III, Star Tribune

Last update: May 14, 2007 - 12:13 AM

The Twins did things on the diamond on Sunday unseen in weeks.

They bunched hits together and drove the ball to the gaps.

Runners reached third from first. Hitters padded their stats.

And Torii Hunter was all over the scorebook.

Hunter and the Twins pounded out weeks of frustrations while pounding Detroit pitchers during a 16-4 rout at the Dome.

The Twins scored more runs Sunday than in their past five games combined. Hunter led the way with one of his greatest games, going 3-for-5 with two homers, a double and a career-high seven RBI.

Detroit still took two of three games of the series.

During that dud of a homestand, the Twins went 3-6. But at least they will head on a nine-game road trip freshly reminded of the value of crooked numbers.

The 16 runs and 22 hits were season highs.

All 11 players had at least one hit.

Hunter had his seventh multihomer game.

And Mike Redmond even hit his first homer since July 6, 2005.

"You could see the weight of the world coming off of these guys' shoulders," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.

Whether the Twins are cured or not will be determined on their road trip. They still don't have a homer from their left fielder or designated hitter. They entered Sunday 11th in the AL in runs scored and 12th in slugging percentage. But they hit four homers Sunday and had to start somewhere.

"I'm big on momentum," said Redmond, who is batting .500 over the past seven games. "More so than momentum, confidence. We had guys with a lot of great at-bats and then hit the ball hard.

"We think we are capable of this. It hadn't happened yet."

Detroit took a 2-0 lead on a two-run homer by Magglio Ordonez in the first. Here comes the sweep?

Hunter whacked a Virgil Vasquez pitch 423 feet to center for a three-run homer and a 4-2 Twins lead in the bottom of the inning. The four runs scored in that inning was more than their total in seven of their prior eight games.

Vasquez, making his major league debut, had that yikes-I'm-in-the-big-time-now look.

The Twins got RBI singles from Lew Ford and Castillo in the third to take a 6-3 lead. Unlike the past few weeks, though, the Twins kept scoring.

Hunter crushed a double to right-center in the fourth to score two runs as the Twins took an 8-3 lead. He batted with two on in the fifth but popped out in foul territory.

Just when you thought Hunter was done for the night, he hit a two-run homer to left in the seventh for RBI Nos. 6 and 7. In the span of a week, Hunter made one of his best catches ever and had one of this best offensive games ever.

"I've been known for my glove," Hunter said. "I feel like I'm getting better at the plate the last couple of years."

La Velle E. Neal III • lneal@startribune.com