Max Kepler hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Minnesota Twins to a 5-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Kepler brought home Trevor Larnach, who was hit by a pitch to open the ninth. Larnach then advanced to second on a wild pitch and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt before scoring to give Minnesota the win in the rubber match of a three-game series.
Gregory Soto (2-4) took the loss, while Kepler’s heroics made a winner out of Jhoan Duran (6-5), who logged a 1-2-3 ninth.
Kepler also tripled as part of a 2-for-5 day that included two RBIs and one run. Carlos Santana also had two hits and two RBIs for the Twins, who won for just the second time in six games.
Minnesota erased a 4-1 deficit with three runs in the seventh.
After Edouard Julien struck out to open the frame, Willi Castro and Larnach walked and Byron Buxton was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Matt Strahm came in to relieve Orion Kerkering. Kepler then grounded into a forceout to bring home a run and pull the Twins within 4-2, and Santana followed with a two-run double.
Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos had provided Philadelphia with its 4-1 edge, with Schwarber smacking a two-run single in the sixth and Castellanos adding an RBI single an inning later.
Trea Turner forged a 1-1 tie with a solo shot in the fifth for the Phillies, his 13th blast of the season.
Castellanos finished with three hits as Philadelphia lost for the fifth time in the past seven games.
Philadelphia generated plenty of traffic on the basepaths over the first two innings, stranding runners at second and third in the first and leaving the bases loaded in the second.
Matt Wallner made the Phillies pay in the home half of the second, blasting a one-out solo home run to open the scoring. It was his fourth blast of the season.
Steven Okert got the first out of the game for Minnesota, then handed the ball to David Festa, who served as a bulk reliever. Festa gave up one run on four hits in 4 1/3 innings, walking two and striking out seven.
Philadelphia starter Aaron Nola went six innings, allowing one run and six hits. He walked three and fanned six.
–Field Level Media
