Nick Gordon scored the winning run on a fielder’s-choice grounder by Tim Beckham in the bottom of the 10th inning as the Minnesota Twins, despite blowing a five-run lead, eked out a 6-5, walk-off victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday in Minneapolis.
Gordan began the inning at second base as the designated runner. He advanced to third when Jake Cave struck out on a slider by Jordan Romano (3-3) as the ball bounced off Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen and up the first base line. Jansen threw wildly to first in trying to complete the strikeout.
Beckham then hit a grounder to three-time Gold Glove third baseman Matt Chapman, who skipped his throw to the plate and Jansen couldn’t handle it while trying to put a sweep tag on Gordon.
Gordon finished a triple shy of a cycle, drove in three runs and scored twice, and Mark Contreras also homered for Minnesota. Carlos Correa added a single, a double and a run.
The Twins increased their lead in the American League Central to two games over Cleveland and the Chicago White Sox. Michael Fulmer (4-4) picked up the win by pitching a scoreless 10th. He gave up a walk and a single but struck out three.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered and had two hits, and Chapman and Santiago Espinal each hit home runs for Toronto. Whit Merrifield also had two hits for the second straight game with the Blue Jays since coming over in a trade with Kansas City.
Minnesota took a 1-0 lead in the third inning on Contreras’ second homer of his career, a 409-foot, opposite-field drive into the bullpen in left-center.
The Twins chased Toronto starter Jose Berrios in the fourth while extending their lead to 5-0.
Correa led off with a double off the wall in right-center, and Jorge Polanco followed with a walk. Jose Miranda then singled in Correa to make it 2-0. Gordon followed with a three-run homer, a 410-foot drive to right.
Chapman cut the lead to 5-1 in the fifth with his 21st homer of the season. The Blue Jays then closed to within 5-4 in the sixth on a solo homer by Espinal and a two-run shot by Guerrero, a 418-foot drive over the center field fence.
Toronto tied it in the ninth when it parlayed three singles into a run off new Minnesota closer Jorge Lopez, including a two-out bloop single to center by Raimel Tapia that drove in Bo Bichette.
The Twins, who failed to score in the seventh despite a leadoff double by Sandy Leon and in the eighth despite a leadoff double by Gordon, loaded the bases in the ninth with one out. But Yimi Garcia got out of the jam by striking out Miranda and getting Gordon to fly out to left.
Toronto loaded the bases with one out in the 10th, but Fulmer bounced back to strike out Teoscar Hernandez and Bichette to end the threat.
–Field Level Media
