The Minnesota Twins set a major league record for home runs on the road in a season, hitting three in Thursday's 10-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox to lift their total to 141 away from home.
Jake Cave went deep twice, including a leadoff shot in the third against Dylan Cease that gave Minnesota 139 homers on the road, eclipsing the previous mark of 138 set by San Francisco in 2001.
C.J. Cron, the Twins' next batter, followed with a drive to center to give Minnesota back-to-back homers in the third.
Cave added a shot in the seventh for his second career multihomer game, increasing the Twins' overall total to 261, which leads the majors and already is the third most in a season in MLB history. The record for homers in a season (267) was set last year by the New York Yankees. The 1997 Seattle Mariners hit 264.
Cave was in center field in place of Max Kepler, who leads the Twins with 35 homers and was one of three regulars out because of minor injuries.
"I just think hitting is contagious, and that goes with the homers as well," said Cave, who has seven homers this season. "We were missing some really good players out there."
Kepler didn't start for a third consecutive game as he rests a sore right knee. Miguel Sano, who has 26 homers, wasn't in the lineup because of right forearm tightness after being hit by a pitch Wednesday and due to a gastrointestinal issue. Marwin Gonzalez, who has gone deep 15 times, missed his second game because of an abdominal/oblique strain.
It didn't matter for American League Central-leading Minnesota, which won its fifth straight.
"I still think we had a great lineup out there," Cave said. "I just think that goes to show how dangerous we are."
