MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Aaron Hill went 4-for-5 with one of Toronto’s four home runs in four innings against Minnesota starter Scott Baker, and the Blue Jays kept up their torrid hitting in a 12-2 victory over the Twins on Wednesday.
Hill and Scott Rolen hit two-run shots against Baker, who came off the disabled list to make a forgettable first start of the season. Vernon Wells and Michael Barrett also went deep, sending Baker to an early exit.
The night was far more memorable for Blue Jays starter Scott Richmond (1-0), who got one out in the seventh before being removed and yielded just four hits, two runs (only one earned, due to a wild pitch) and three walks.
Richmond, the 14th native of Canada to don a Toronto uniform, struck out three in his second career win in the majors. He’s almost 30 and two years ago he was pitching for the Edmonton Cracker Cats in an independent league, but he landed a spot in an inexperienced rotation after a not-so-sparkling spring and gave the Blue Jays a big boost before ace Roy Halladay pitches the series finale Thursday.
It’s easy to be a Toronto pitcher, the way their teammates are swinging. The Blue Jays are leading the majors in several offensive categories, except home runs _ which they hit plenty of against Baker. They finished with 16 hits after collecting 19 on Monday.
It’s early for the Twins too, of course, but they haven’t yet produced a complete game with offense, pitching and defense all in sync. They’ve won just three games, and the biggest problem has been on the mound. Glen Perkins is the only one who’s been on so far, and he can’t pitch every night.
Baker, whose opening day assignment was taken away by a sore shoulder, looked like he was still in spring training. Manager Ron Gardenhire put no pitch-count limits on his purported No. 1 starter, whose injury cost him one turn in the rotation, and Baker threw almost 75 percent of his pitches for strikes.
Major problem: He walked two batters, both immediately preceding homers.
Rolen went deep on an 0-2 pitch in the second inning after the Twins took 2-0 lead in the first, and Hill took an 0-1 offering into the left-field seats in the third for a 4-2 advantage. Baker, who struggled throughout the preseason, gave up five hits and six runs while striking out three.
Phil Humber was just as hittable in relief, surrendering six hits, three runs and an intentional walk while getting three outs.
Notes:@ Toronto’s Cito Gaston took extra pride in Wednesday’s recognition of Jackie Robinson’s break of baseball’s skin-color barrier. Gaston, the only black manager to win a World Series, was honored last year by the Negro League Hall of Fame for a career achievement award in Robinson’s name. “It goes way back. He changed the whole world,” Gaston said. … Gardenhire hasn’t been ready to formally declare RH Jesse Crain his eighth-inning reliever, with RH Luis Ayala also up for the setup role, but Crain has been pitching this spring in pre-surgery form. A torn labrum and rotator cuff ended his 2007 season prematurely and 2008 was so-so, but Crain has allowed one hit in four innings to date. … Twins bullpen coach Rick Stelmaszek was back at his job after taking 10 days off for health reasons.
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