ARLINGTON – Josh Bell has always hit well in Arlington, whether it’s Globe Life Field or its predecessor just across the street. But as much as he’s always thrived on home cooking, there’s one thing the Dallas-area native had never done: homer in his hometown.
On Monday, Bell -- who was born in Irving, grew up about 10 minutes from the hotel where the Twins are staying this week and still makes his residence in North Texas -- finally remedied that. He crushed a three-run first-inning homer off former teammate Mackenzie Gore that sent the Twins on their way to a 4-2 win against the Rangers in the opener of a three-game series. He also singled, raising his career batting average in Arlington to .372.
“All the parks, this is the one that I wanted,” said Bell, whose mother still teaches at nearby UT-Arlington. “Hit a homer here as a senior [in high school]. I was playing a day game and it felt like it was a packed stadium. It was probably 800 people. But to finally get it out of the way, it’s definitely something special.”
Standing in front of his locker where the ball from his recent 200th career homer was on display, Bell acknowledged that he loves hitting at home. He estimated that he left about 40 tickets for friends and family, but that’s not everyone who came out to see him.
“I’m sure tons of friends and family, old teammates, saw some kids I went to high school with sitting nice and close with their kids,” he said. “Definitely cool to play in front of them.”
It was a big homer, too. Bell staked rookie Mike Paredes to a three-run lead before Paredes even took the mound, and the right-hander and four relievers made it stand up.
Austin Martin led off the game for Minnesota with a double, but it looked like he might be stranded after Byron Buxton struck out and Kody Clemens popped up. Royce Lewis extended the inning with a walk, bringing up Bell.
He took a first-pitch sinker from Gore that was well outside the zone, then took a fastball on the inside corner that he unsuccessfully challenged. On the 1-1, Gore threw a pretty-well located curveball at the bottom inside corner of the zone, and Bell punished it, driving it a Statcast-projected 376 feet into the seats in left for his eighth homer of the season.
“That was big,” said Byron Buxton, who hit a solo homer for some valuable insurance later in the game. “Obviously [Gore] settled down after that and it was pretty lights-out for the most part. It was all about us going out there having quality at-bats and trying to make sure that we’re doing our job to produce runs. JB producing that three-run bomb in the first I think gave us a little bit of room to go do what we need to do.”
For Bell, a famously streaky hitter, it was not only a continuation of his success at home, but also an extension of a recent surge. He’s had a hit in seven straight starts, with three homers and a double in that span.
He’s looking like the hitter the Twins expected they were getting when they signed him in the offseason, deepening a lineup that has been putting up some strong performances overall lately. And it was extra sweet to do it at home.
“I was aware [of his success in Arlington],” said manager Derek Shelton. “I'm very aware of that. Home cooking, baby. … Any time in the first inning, especially when you're the visitor and can score and your pitcher goes out with a lead, it's such a big boost.”