As he conducted his postgame media availability, Twins starter Simeon Woods Richardson referred back to a sheet of paper with many of his teammates’ names written on it. So many different players contributed to Tuesday night’s win, and the starting pitcher didn’t want to forget any of them.
“It took everybody today,” he said, listing nine names. “Even if we had a long-(expletive) rain delay. Excuse my French. It was a good win.”
That it was.
Hours after the Twins traded starting pitcher to Chris Paddack, the first move in what could be a busy week ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline, they stormed back in the ninth inning using a Brooks Lee two-run, walk-off single for a 5-4 win over the Boston Red Sox after waiting out an hour and a half rain delay in the middle of the ninth inning at Target Field.
“To be able to focus and play just a really good ballgame, to challenge guys in different spots and watch them come through, you have to want it,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “It’s a challenging day saying goodbye to a guy that you care about that’s done good work for us in Paddy, but watching guys step up on a day that’s kind of an emotional day is great.”
Lee’s single, which came after he fell behind 0-2 in the count, brought home Mickey Gasper and Willi Castro, who was hot on Gasper’s heels, to erase Boston’s advantage, one that it had gained in the top of the ninth. That was mere minutes before the wind started picking up, whipping trash on the field, and it started pouring with lightning bolts illuminating the sky over the ballpark.
The Twins (51-55) needed just a few minutes after the long delay to come back.
DaShawn Keirsey Jr. got them started with a single to lead off the inning. Gasper walked right after him, and then Castro was hit by a pitch, loading the bases for the third time in the game. Carlos Correa then hit a ground ball to third and Keirsey was thrown out at home, bringing Lee to the plate to play a starring role.
Down Byron Buxton, who was on the bench with cartilage irritation, and Ryan Jeffers, who is on paternity leave, the Twins still came through when it mattered most.
“We still knew we were going to play at some point (Monday night),” Lee said after collecting his third walk-off hit of the season. “Those are the times when you come together and figure it out, and we have baseball players to do that.”
The late-inning dramatics came after the Twins and Red Sox (57-51) traded leads earlier in the game.
Keirsey broke open a scoreless game in the third inning with his second home run of the season, after which he noted he felt Paddack’s absence as he came back to the dugout and noticed the starting pitcher wasn’t waiting on the top step as usual to place the team’s celebratory helmet on his head.
The Twins were then unable to take advantage of a bases-loaded, no-out situation an inning earlier, allowing the Red Sox to hang around.
An Alex Bregman three-run home run off Woods Richardson, who had navigated out of trouble in three of the previous four innings, completed a big momentum swing and gave Boston its first lead of the night.
The Twins tied it up in the sixth, thanks in part to some wildness from reliever Jorge Alcala, and the score remained that way until the ninth.
“I think it just goes to show the guys we have in this locker room, rallying together,” Keirsey said.
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