Okamoto Hits Two Homers in Twins Vs Blue Jays 7-3 Win
Kazuma Okamoto drove the Blue Jays past the Twins 7-3 on Friday at Target Field, and twins vs blue jays turned on his first major league multi-homer game. He hit solo shots in the fourth and fifth innings, giving Toronto the burst it needed after a 7-1 loss the night before.
Okamoto at Target Field
Okamoto opened the scoring swing with a solo home run in the fourth inning off Simeon Woods Richardson. One inning later, he sent a first-pitch splitter from the former Blue Jays prospect out for his second homer and Toronto’s lead grew to 6-2.
That second blast came after Vladimir Guerrero Jr. drew a six-pitch walk, and it put a clamp on a game that had already flipped back and forth. Okamoto finished with his first multi-homer game in the majors, the kind of line the Blue Jays had not been getting often enough while trying to steady the top of the order.
Blue Jays respond after Thursday
Byron Buxton had tied the game 2-2 in the third inning with a two-run homer off Patrick Corbin, but Toronto answered with run-scoring plays from Yohendrick Pinango and Okamoto. Pinango drove in a run in the second inning on a chopper to first with the infield drawn in, then added RBI singles in the fourth and seventh innings to finish with three hits.
Lenyn Sosa also had three hits for Toronto. The win was the club’s eighth in its last 12 games, a stretch that fits with John Schneider’s view that the team is still trying to recapture the offensive identity it had a year ago after injuries, roster churn and early struggles changed how the lineup has fit together.
Schneider’s lineup test
Schneider said the Blue Jays were more clearly aligned a year ago, when roles were easier to define. On Friday, that alignment showed up in the box score: six Toronto runs before the fifth-inning frame was over, multiple hitters reaching base, and Okamoto driving the loudest damage.
Okamoto said after the game, “It's a really good lineup and I’m just part of it,” and added, “My mentality just is to just pass the baton, make sure that I'm not ending the inning, ending a rally, just making sure I pass the baton off to the next batter.” He also came close to a third homer in the ninth inning, then joked, “I didn't have my pre-game quesadilla today, I think if I would have had that, it would have been a home run,” a line that matched the night Toronto had in a lineup that kept moving traffic instead of stalling it.
