Kepler scores five consecutive goals against Bauer



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CLEVELAND – Max Kepler has Trevor Bauer's number.

Kepler signed for the first two times on Saturday night against the starting pitcher from Cleveland, giving five defeats to five against the right-handed.

Kepler dominated Bauer's victory three times in the June 6 victory in Minnesota, and also attracted attention.

He scored four of four points overall with a head shot on Saturday night, then went on to the second run, a hitter after rookie Jake Cave following Bauer.

Bauer finally got the best of Kepler in the fourth inning, putting him out, but only after Kepler hit a deep, no-fault ball in the top deck on the right. He finished the 2-for-5 night as the Twins defeated the Indians 6-2 and played 7½ games ahead of Cleveland in the AHL.

According to research from Elias Sports Bureau, Kepler corresponded to the longest sequence of the era of expansion for consecutive circuits in consecutive strikes against a pitcher. Carlos Delgado did it against Jorge Sosa (2003-04), and Frank Howard connected to Bob Hendley (1963-64).

After the match, Kepler did not do much of his feat.

"Every thrower is the same," said Kepler, "I have the same approach, I'm just trying to simplify it when I'm riding there."

Minnesota Director Rocco Baldelli was more than praiseworthy.

"It's unfathomable that this is happening before our eyes," Baldelli said. "No one has ever seen anything like it."

Kepler has 13 career circuits against the Indians, including 11 at Progressive Field. He also played a three-game match in Cleveland as a rookie in 2016.

Saturday marked the fourth multihomer game of the season for Kepler, equaling his total of the previous three seasons.

Kepler's five home runs against Bauer are his best against a pitcher of his career, and the most against a hitter against Bauer in his career.

"I do not know," said the right-hander. "How do you explain it? It's just one of those baseball things … it just attacked me – for whatever reason. It will not be like that forever. It will calm down, and it will go through a 0-in-10 with seven punches or whatever and miss throws.It's just one of those things right now. "

ESPN Stats & Information and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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