MINNEAPOLIS — If Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo came into the series with the Minnesota Twins cold, he certainly leaves the Twin Cities red hot.
Rizzo homered again on Sunday, his third of the series, and also had two hits as the Cubs took the final game of a three-game series at Target Field.
Chicago won the final two games after a 7-2 loss in the series lid-lifter on Friday night.
Rizzo said his big weekend was just a matter of keeping things simple.
“Just staying within myself,” Rizzo said. “I was just trying to put the bat on the ball, nothing more.”
After having just two hits in his previous six games entering the series, Rizzo hit a pair of solo homers on Friday, had a double and an RBI on Saturday before hitting his third homer of the series to lead off the fifth inning on Sunday, a laser shot that cleared the fence in straight away center field in only a couple of seconds.
With a .309 average, 15 homers and 43 RBIs, Rizzo is among the best first basemen in the league, but was just fourth among National League first basemen in the latest round of All-Star votes.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon, who insisted Rizzo should play in the Midsummer Classic in two weeks in Cincinnati, had a different solution.
“Let him play shortstop, I don’t care,” Maddon said. “He’s got to be on the All-Star team.”