In a game the Twins won 10-3, with Justin Morneau driving in four runs and Joe Mauer collecting three walks and a couple of runs, there was one player who stole the show. Rookie Aaron Hicks, who has struggled to begin 2013, finally busted out with not only the first multi-hit game of his career, but the first multi-homer affair as well.
Aaron Hicks hitting and robbing homers
The rookie center fielder had a huge night, and we’ve chronicled it for you in GIF form.
Hannah Foslien
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Hicks took White Sox starter Hector Santiago deep to center field:
It's a pretty standard homer, but you see where it landed -- just two innings later, Hicks was at the same spot, on defense, in order to rob Adam Dunn of what would have been a game-tying blast of his own:
Considering Hicks’ tumble, it’s a good thing that there were already two outs in the inning. Well, at least it seemed that way before the Twins blew the game open, starting with Hicks’ second shot of the day in the bottom half of the inning.
Those two homers help, but Hicks is still sporting an OPS+ of just 50 this year. There’s a lot of season left, and the 23-year-old has hit .226/.338/.452 in the last month or so, so at least things are trending in the right direction. At least his defense doesn’t need a qualifier: dude can field, as we’ve already seen this season.
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