Jorge Polanco proving his worth as Twins keep rolling

Thomas Lott

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Jorge Polanco proving his worth as Twins keep rolling image

Jorge Polanco keeps on rolling and so do the Twins.

Minnesota dropped the Angels 16-7 on Thursday and are one of only two teams in baseball with 33 wins. Polanco has been a huge part of that as he went 2 for 3 with his ninth home run of the season in the win over Los Angeles.

He is batting .344 and trails only Mike Trout among American League position players in WAR at three in 2019.

MORE: Watch 'ChangeUp,' a new MLB live whiparound show on DAZN

Polanco signed a five-year, $25 million contract extension with the Twins before the season and that is looking like an absolute bargain right now.

But, as good as the young infielder has been, the Twins have truly been a revelation this year as they lead all of MLB with a .673 winning percentage and 98 home runs.

Minnesota is on pace to shatter MLB's team home run record and is projected to hit more than 300 homers this season.

They hit eight homers against the Angels on Thursday and have hit 25 in their last nine games.

This team might just be for real.

Studs of the Night

Anthony Rizzo went 4 for 5 with three runs scored and three RBIs but the Cubs lost to the Phillies 9-7.

Steve Pearce finally hit his first home run of the year as part of a 3-for-5 day in an 8-2 win over the Blue Jays.

Rays outfielder Tommy Pham went 3 for 4 with a home run in a 7-2 win over the Indians.

Dud of the Night

Rockies starter Antonio Senzatela gave up eight earned runs and nine hits in 3 1/3 innings of work in a 14-6 loss to the Pirates.

Highlight

Braves rookie Austin Riley became the first Atlanta player to hit five home runs in his first nine games with the team, but he flashed the leather, too, with this nice sliding catch in a 5-4 win in 13 innings over the Giants.

What's Next

Mariners (23-29) at Athletics (25-25) 10 p.m. ET — The Mariners need to get something going soon if they hope to fight for a wild-card spot in the American League and Wade LeBlanc (2-1, 7.36 ERA), especially, needs to get some things figured out. Daniel Mengden (1-1, 3.65) has one of the more interesting deliveries in baseball, so he'll be plenty entertaining in his start.

 

Thomas Lott