MINNEAPOLIS — Hunter Goodman gave the Minnesota Twins fits all Saturday night. The Colorado Rockies utility man hit three home runs and drove in five runs as his club beat the Twins 8-5 at Target Field.
The win mattered for a Rockies team coming off a painful loss a day earlier. Goodman arrived hot, then caught fire for real. His first two swings landed deep in the seats. The third? That came in the seventh inning, right as the pressure started to rise.
Hunter Goodman punishes Mike Paredes early
Goodman, who started at designated hitter, opened the show with a solo homer in the first inning. The ball sailed into the third deck in left field, with Statcast estimating the drive at 428 feet. In his second at-bat, in the third inning, he launched another one about 428 feet into the left-center bullpen.
Twins starter Mike Paredes had no answer. Goodman read the pitches calmly, then ripped them without much fuss. Two swings. Two runs. The ballpark went quiet for a moment.
“When Goody gets rolling, he can stay rolling for a long time,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said. “He’s a very tough out.”
The third homer changed the game
After grounding out in the fifth, Goodman came back up with Colorado leading 3-2 in the seventh. With two runners on base, he worked a full count before crushing a high sinker from Kody Funderburk 401 feet into the left-center seats.
That was more than another run. It shifted the game’s rhythm. The Twins still had chances to push back, but Goodman shut down the momentum early. The Rockies could breathe easier after that.
His teammates know exactly how much one locked-in hitter can matter. Kyle Karros, who also added a two-run homer in the eighth, called Goodman’s swing one of the strongest in baseball right now.
“That’s one of the strongest swings in the game, and he showed it,” Karros said. “When he’s hot, he’s hot.”
The Rockies answer after Friday’s heartbreak
Colorado entered the game with a bitter memory from Friday. Goodman had also made noise then, hitting a go-ahead two-run homer in the ninth inning before the Twins stormed back and won 9-8 in extra innings. That 451-foot blast was the longest homer of the day, according to Baseball Savant.
Saturday gave the Rockies a response. Michael Lorenzen, now 3-9, worked a tidy outing and allowed just two runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. He earned his first win since April 24. That mattered, because Colorado did not have to rely only on big swings to survive.
Goodman is putting together a very productive season. The 26-year-old has 25 home runs already, after setting a personal best with 31 last year. That kind of power is starting to push his name into elite company, especially since he plays primarily at catcher.
With 25 homers before the All-Star break, Goodman became the fourth backstop in history to reach that mark before midseason, joining Cal Raleigh, Ivan Rodriguez and Johnny Bench. Those are not casual names. They are legends, and Goodman now sits in that group.
“Those are all-time great players,” Goodman said. “Any time your name gets mentioned with them, it feels pretty incredible.”
For the Rockies, a performance like this is about more than one win. It is a sign. If Goodman keeps this pace, Colorado has real reason to believe it can stay dangerous in the games ahead. And for opposing pitchers, the warning is simple: do not miss your spot. One mistake, and the ball can travel a very long way. Very long indeed.
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