It's the birthday of Kent Hrbek, born on this date in 1960 in Minneapolis. He graduated from Bloomington's Kennedy High School in 1978 and was drafted that June by the Twins in the 17th round. Only Harmon Killebrew and Kirby Puckett have played more games in a Twins uniform.

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The big, 6'4" left-handed first baseman made his Major League debut on August 24, 1981 at Yankee Stadium and hit a game-winning home run off of George Frazier leading off the twelfth inning. Hrbek made his only All-Star team in 1982 and finished second to Cal Ripken, Jr. for American League Rookie of the Year. Hrbek drove in 107 runs in 1984 and finished second to Tigers pitcher Willie Hernandez for American League MVP. He hit 3 grand slams in 1985, tying Bob Allison, Rod Carew, and Kirby Puckett for the Twins' single season record. The 34 home runs Hrbek hit in 1987 are the most ever by a Twins lefty. His grand slam in the sixth game of the 1987 World Series is an iconic moment in Twins history. His reaction after catching Gary Gaetti's throw for the final out of game 7 is immortalized in bronze outside gate 14 at Target Field.

Hrbek retired following the strike-shortened '94 season. His 239 HRs and 1,086 RBI are second in Twins history to only Harmon Killebrew. His 1,749 hits rank fifth behind Kirby Puckett, Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew and Tony Oliva. Joe Mauer will pass Hrbie this season. The Twins retired Hrbek's #14 on August 13, 1995.

Cesar Tovar had the Twins' first 4-extra base hit game in a 12-3 win versus the Angels in California. Tovar, the Twins' leadoff hitter, hit 2 doubles and 2 HRs. He went 4-for-6 on the day, improving his batting average to .323. Tony Oliva went 3-for-4 with 2 doubles. Oliva would lead the American League with 34 doubles, with Tovar coming in second with 32.

Kirby Puckett (1987 and '89), Rich Becker (1996), Corey Koskie (2001) and Michael Cuddyer (2005) have since tied Tovar's record of 4 extra-base hits in a single game. Eight players in Major League history have hit 5 extra-base hits in a game.

The Twins snapped a 6-game losing streak, beating the White Sox 20-1 in the series finale in Chicago. The Twins collected 20 hits and 5 walks in the game. Bartolo Colon took the loos, giving up 8 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks in just 2 innings. Michael Cuddyer went 4-for-6. Designated Hitter Joe Mauer hit a grand slam in the Twins' 6-run sixth inning. It was already his 8th HR of the season. He would go on to hit 28 in 2009 en route to being voted the American League's Most Valuable Player.

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The day after snapping a 6-game losing streak with a 20-1 road win versus the White Sox, the Twins returned home to the Dome, beating the Brewers 11-3. The Twins had outscored their opponents by 27 runs over the past two days. Michael Cuddyer, who had 4 hits the previous day in Chicago, hit for the cycle versus the Brewers, going 4-for-5 with 5 RBI and 2 runs scored, making him 8-for-11 with 8 RBI and 6 runs over the past two days. He hit a 3-run HR in the first inning, driving in Mauer and Morneau. Cuddy completed the cycle with an RBI triple to left, driving in Morneau, putting the Twins up 11-1. Cuddyer grounded out in his final at-bat. No Twin has hit for the cycle since.

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