Kody

Clemens

With two outs in the seventh inning and the Twins trailing 7-4, Clemens stepped to the plate with two men on and made the most of his moment when he blasted a three-run homer off reliever Ryne Stanek to tie the game at 7-7. It was the 10th homer of the season for Clemens, who has now homered four times in June and is slashing .303/.324/.667 on the month.

Clemens tagged Seth Lugo for a solo shot in the third inning, jumping on a first-pitch curveball for a 414-foot (101.4-mph EV) blast that gave the Twins a 3-2 advantage. He then left the yard again in the fifth inning, that time a 379-foot (101.7-mph EV) solo shot on a sweeper that made it a 5-3 ballgame. The versatile 30-year-old has been a key cog in the Twins’ offense this season, slashing .236/.311/.460 with eight homers and 20 RBI in his 195 plate appearances.

Clemens doubled and scored in the second inning, then tripled in the third to drive in a run. He’d reach for a third straight time in the fourth, driving in another run with a base hit. The versatile 30-year-old is having a solid season with the Twins, hitting .239/.316/.447 with six homers, 20 runs scored, 18 RBI, and five steals across 179 plate appearances. He’s come into more playing time of late, starting each of the last four games against left-handed pitching.

It appears to be just a routine day off for Martin, who is sitting against White Sox RHP Davis Martin while Kody Clemens gets some reps in right field. Martin is hitting just .220/.270/.339 in his last 16 games as a (mostly) full-time starter after the Twins optioned out Matt Wallner.

Kody Clemens will make his first career start in center field with Buxton limited to DH for the sixth time in his last seven games since returning from a hip issue that cost him five games earlier this month. It’s a bit unclear when he’ll be ready to return to center field, but the positive for fantasy managers is that he’s remained in the lineup.

It appears to be nothing more than a routine day off for the switch-hitting slugger. Bell hasn’t quite delivered the punch that the Twins were hoping for in the middle of their lineup this season, hitting a meager .226/.313/.348 with three homers and 17 RBI. Kody Clemens will start in his place at first base and will bat sixth against Jays’ right-hander Trey Yesavage.

Clemens had just three RBI coming into the game. He was one of the Twins’ lefty hitters who had a tough time while the club faced a barrage of southpaws over the first three weeks, but he’s back getting regular playing time during a run of righties over the last week and has collected hits in six of seven games to boost his season line to .194/.275/.371.

The righty will get the day game off instead of facing RHP Jack Flaherty. Kody Clemens will slide into Keaschall’s spot at second base, while Josh Bell moves up the order to hit third. Keaschall has hits in his last three games, but is off to a rough .208/.264/.292 start with just one homer and two stolen bases.

Clemens has been leading off against righties, but he sat out the last two games because the Twins were facing lefties. Today, he was inserted into the seventh spot against Cole Ragans and had the game’s biggest hit through seven innings, singling to right with none on and Victor Caratini on first in the second. Alas, Caratini forgot he was a catcher and was thrown out easily trying to take third on the hit. On the plus side, that allowed Clemens to get to second. Clemens then went on to score the only run until the eighth when he was caught napping with two outs. He thought strike two was an inning-ending strike three and was in no-man’s land when Salvador Perez botched the throw to second, sending it into center and allowing Clemens to score. From there, Clemens continued to involve himself by dropping a foul popup and struggling to handle a couple of bouncing throws to first, which, on one occasion, nearly led to him getting trampled by Perez. In the fifth, he walked and tried to steal second base, only to have his helmet fall off and cut him on the nose during his head-first dive, He was out, though it looked like he might be safe because Bobby Witt Jr. initially tagged the unattached helmet. Finally, Clemens hit one of the Twins’ three consecutive homers off Steven Cruz as Minnesota put the game away in the ninth. He’ll likely be back leading off Friday against Joe Boyle and the Rays.

Clemens led off the game with a single off of Brayan Bello and swiped second base, but he was then doubled off on a line drive. He then smacked a two-out triple in the eighth inning before being lifted for a pinch runner. The 29-year-old utilityman has had a solid spring, hitting .290 (9-for-31) with zero homers, five RBI and a pair of stolen bases.