CHICAGO — Minnesota Twins slugger Nelson Cruz homered three times in the first five innings against the Chicago White Sox on Thursday night.
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.
Max Kepler also went deep against All-Star Lucas Giolito, helping the Twins build a 10-3 lead.
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 the Elias Sports Bureau, it’s the first time in major league history there’s been a three-homer game on three consecutive days.
The 39-year-old 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, 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, joining a list that includes Babe Ruth, Stan Musial, Reggie Jackson, Dave Winfield, Frank Thomas and Alex Rodriguez.
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. He is the oldest player with a three-homer game since Alex 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 Nettles was 40 years and 4 days old for the sixth game of his streak in August 1984.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.