Jorge Polanco's newfound status as the Twins' home run leader seems to be making him impatient.
Polanco, bidding to join Brian Dozier as the only second basemen ever to lead Minnesota in home runs, watched Luis Arraez open the Twins' first at-bat with a four-pitch single to right off Tigers starter Casey Mize, and observed Byron Buxton follow that with a 3-and-2 single into the hole at shortstop.
Then he struck. Quickly.
Mize's first pitch to Polanco was a 94-mph sinker, one that dropped right into the same spot that batting practice pitchers aim for. Polanco calmly and smoothly reached out and hit it 418 feet for his 32nd home run of the season. It just carried onto the berm beyond the center-field fence.
Just like that, the Twins led by three, and though they wouldn't score again until the eighth inning, Polanco had provided enough for an eventual 5-2 victory over Detroit, the Twins' sixth win in their past eight games.
"Our early hitters really set the tone. Polo coming in with a big swing, [his teammates] forcing Mize to throw a bunch of pitches in the first inning, really making him work," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "It was a nice way to start the ballgame."
Starting the ballgame nicely is what Polanco does, especially lately. Wednesday's long home run also marked the fourth time this month — out of his eight homers in September — that Polanco has gone deep in the first inning, and the 17th time in his 81-homer career.
It also represented the clutch hit that the Tigers lacked all night. Detroit outhit the Twins 8-7, but went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and constantly walked off the field frustrated. Never more so, though, than in the eighth inning, when Eric Haase hit what appeared off the bat to be a two-out, game-tying home run ball to center field, one that Buxton timed, jumped and caught at the wall, ending the inning.
