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Minnesota Twins’ Slugger Nelson Cruz Hits Three Homers Against Chicago White Sox

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Nelson Cruz is three times the star…

The 39-year-old Dominican professional baseball player, a slugger for the Minnesota Twins, homered three times in the first five innings against the Chicago White Sox on Thursday night, leading the Twins to a 10-3 victory.

Nelson Cruz

Cruz hit a solo drive in the first, a two-run shot in the third and another two-run homer in the fifth. It’s the first career three-homer game for the six-time All-Star, who has 385 home runs in his career.

Cruz batted again with a runner on first in the sixth and struck out swinging against Jimmy Cordero, ending the inning. He flied out to right leading off the ninth, ending the day 3-for-5 with five RBIs.

“It’s not easy,” Cruz said. “To be able to hit three is a blessing.

“The most important thing is we won and the way [Jose] Berrios pitched. At the end of the day, it’s pitching.”

Cruz went deep against All-Star Lucas Giolito on different pitches — fastball, curveball and changeup.

“He’s a good hitter,” Giolito said. “He was seeing me well.”

Cruz’s outburst followed three-homer games by New York Mets second baseman Robinson Cano on Tuesday night and St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong on Wednesday. 

According to Elias Sports Bureau research, it’s the first time in major league history there’s been a three-homer game on three consecutive days.

Cruz, who signed a $14.3 million, one-year contract with Minnesota in January, has six homers in his past four games and 25 overall this season. According to Stats LLC, he is the oldest player in major league history to hit six-plus homers in a four-game span, surpassing Barry Bonds, who hit seven in four games at age 36 in 2001.

Cruz also became the 10th player in big league history with a three-homer game after turning 39, according to Baseball Prospectus data, joining a list that includes Babe Ruth, Stan Musial, Reggie Jackson, Dave Winfield, Frank Thomas and Alex Rodriguez.

“You just assume he’s done things like that,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Those kind of nights are pretty unique and special, and when you get a chance to see them live, we all kind of enjoy them and appreciate them.”

Cruz is the only player with multiple four-game homer streaks this season. He also hit a homer in four consecutive games June 5-9, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. He is the oldest player with a three-homer game since Rodriguez did it four years ago against the Twins.

At 39 years and 24 days old, Cruz is the second-oldest player in the modern era (since 1900) with seven homers in a six-game span. Graig Nettleswas 40 years and 4 days old for the sixth game of his streak in August 1984.

Minaya to Serve as Special Adviver to the Major League Baseball Players Association

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Omar Minaya is ready to help future Latino MLB players…

The 56-year-old Dominican former-player-turned executive, the former New York Mets general manager, has left his job as senior vice president of the San Diego Padres to become a special adviser to Major League Baseball Players Association head Tony Clark.

Omar Minaya

Minaya started in baseball management as a scout for the Texas Rangers, where he helped sign Sammy Sosa. He became the major leagues’ first Hispanic general manager with the Montreal Expos from 2002 to 2004. He left the Expos to become GM of his hometown Mets, who fired him after the 2010 season. He was hired by the Padres in December 2011 as senior VP of baseball operations under GM Josh Byrnes, who was fired last June.

“Our membership that comes from the Latin countries is growing,” Clark said. “That means having folks on staff that are reflective of those countries, that have the ability to communicate with players in their native language.”

Minaya will focus on international affairs and game development in the U.S., including amateur baseball. The number of Dominican and Cuban players in the major leagues has increased, and management hopes to get agreement on an international draft in the collective bargaining agreement that expires after the 2016 season. Currently, only players residing in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico are subject to a draft.

“These are going to be major issues as the game goes forward,” Minaya said.

He’s following the path of Hall of Famer Dave Winfield, who left his job as executive vice president/senior adviser of the Padres after a dozen years in December 2013 to become a special assistant to Clark at the Major League Baseball Players Association.

“It probably hasn’t happened very often,” said Clark, the former All-Star first baseman who took over as union chief after Michael Weiner’s death in November 2013.

Minaya is reversing the path of former major leaguer Tony Bernazard, who was a special assistant for the union from 1992 until he left to work for Minaya and the Mets from 2004 to 2009.

Clark said he expected it to be a long relationship. Minaya said it was difficult to leave scouting and player development.

“When you are a baseball operations guy, and you are a guy like myself, every morning you wake up and you’re thinking you’re in the hunt, the hunt for that player,” Minaya said. “Look, I love scouting. I loved being a scout. I loved talking to coaches, talking to family, talking to players, understanding that. Every day you wake up, if you’re the general manager, you try to get that trade. If you’re a scout, you try to beat somebody to a player.”