The New York Yankees are sometimes referred to as the Bronx Bombers, and they've hit their fair share of home runs against the Twins over the years. On Friday, though, it was Minnesota launching bombs in a 6-1 win at Yankee Stadium.
For the first time all season, the Twins -- who had the fifth-fewest home runs in the majors with 39 prior to Friday -- hit three home runs in a game. Oswaldo Arcia, Josh Willingham and Trevor Plouffe provided the big blasts for Minnesota as the Twins opened their three-game series against the Yankees with an impressive victory.
It took until just April 9 last season before Minnesota clubbed three homers in one night. The Twins had several two-homer games this year, but Friday was the first with three home runs, and they resulted in a series-opening win.
"We'll take them any way we can get them," said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire. "We've got some guys that can do that. Two of the guys that just came back did it. We said they were going to help us. They are power guys, and they came back and hit them."
Those two would be Arcia and Willingham, who have both missed a significant portion of the season. Arcia, playing in just his ninth game of the season after spending time on the disabled list and in Triple-A Rochester, opened the home run derby with a solo blast in the top of the second inning. He connected on a low pitch from Yankees starter Vidal Nuno and sent it into the second deck in right field for his second homer of the year.
Arcia hit 14 homers in 97 games during his rookie season last year, but his power potential was slowed with an early wrist injury that sidelined him for most of April and May. Friday's big blast is proof that his power is indeed back.
"We really have high hopes for this guy. We like him an awful lot," Gardenhire said of Arcia. "You saw that tonight, what he can do. He's come back after this injury and swinging very well. Hopefully he'll continue. He's a fun baseball player."
Willingham, like Arcia, spent an extended amount of time on the disabled list after getting hit in the hand by a pitch in the first week of the season. He homered Thursday against Texas for his first of the year -- a shot to the second deck at Target Field -- and hit his second of the year Friday when he deposited a solo shot into the bullpens in left field to put Minnesota up 2-1 in the fourth.
"You work on your timing down on your rehab assignment, and then you get to the big leagues and it's obviously a whole different level," Willingham said. "So you're just trying to get your timing down as quickly as possible, and that's the main thing."
Later in the inning, it was Plouffe's turn to join the home run parade -- but not before Arcia singled to center following Willingham's homer. Plouffe then hit his fifth homer of the year, and his second in the last five days, with a two-run shot to straightaway center field. That gave Minnesota starter Ricky Nolasco a 4-1 cushion in the fourth, and the Twins went on to add a pair of runs in the eighth to seal the win.
Plouffe had just one home run in April, but has hit four since May 14. After hitting 24 homers in 2012, Plouffe's power total dropped in 2013 as he hit just 14 homers. That power has started to return over the last two weeks.
"I've been able to backspin a few balls here and there," Plouffe said. "It's a long season. I'm just focused on driving runs in any way possible. If it comes via a home run, I'm happy with that. If it comes via a bloop single, I'm happy."
FOX Sports North's Jamie Hersch contributed to this report.
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