MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Twins slugger Nelson Cruz hit his 400th career home run, becoming the 57th player in major league history to reach the mark.
Cruz connected in the fourth inning Sunday for his 40th homer of the season. He became the third player in Twins history to hit 40 home runs in a season, joining Harmon Killebrew and Brian Dozier.
The 39-year-old Cruz tagged Kansas City's Gabe Speier for a solo drive. It gave the AL Central-leading Twins an 8-6 lead and elicited a curtain call for Cruz as fans at Target Field gave him a standing ovation.
This was the fourth time in Cruz's career that he's gotten to the 40-homer mark. He did so in three straight years from 2014-16 with Baltimore and Seattle. He's the 26th player in baseball history with four 40-home run seasons. Cruz also became the ninth Dominican-born player with 400 career homers.
