Nothing can stop the Twins at this moment. Not even a long stoppage in the middle of the game.
Though the Twins started off slow on Tuesday night at Target Field, they awakened after a lengthy rain delay, then completed the comeback with a 7-6 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. Carlos Santana played hero, pinch-hitting for Jose Miranda in the ninth inning and promptly hitting a single to center field to score Manny Margot from second base.
The dramatic finish helped the Twins extend their winning streak to six games as they continue to chase the Cleveland Guardians for supremacy in the AL Central.
It wasn’t the cleanest of outings for Pablo Lopez before the rain delay, which spanned 1 hour, 23 minutes. He surrendered a three-run homer in the first inning, another run in the third and a solo homer in the fifth before the skies opened up. He was lifted from the game in favor of Jay Jackson when play resumed.
Given the way Lopez has carried the Twins at times over the past couple of seasons, it’s only right that his teammates picked him up on a rare occasion that he wasn’t at the peak of his powers.
The Twins responded thanks to some timely hitting by Willi Castro. He stepped into the batter’s box in the fourth inning with the bases loaded and tripled to right, scoring Carlos Correa, Ryan Jeffers and Austin Martin. That cut the deficit to 4-3, and Trevor Larnach doubled to left field shortly thereafter to score Castro and tie the score at 4-4.
That score wouldn’t hold, as the Rays got a solo home run from Brandon Lowe right before the rain delay and a solo home run from designated hitter Josh Lowe right after the rain delay.
Fortunately for the Twins, Max Kepler followed suit the next time he was at the plate, making it 6-5 with a solo home run of his own. Not long after that, Correa drew a walk and eventually came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Jeffers to tie the score at 6-6.
Aside from Jackson out of the bullpen, the Twins also got solid efforts from Jorge Alcala, Griffin Jax, and Jhoan Duran in relief.
That set the stage for Santana. He watched a couple of pitches whizz by him, then casually barreled up a ball to lift the Twins to a win.
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