Matt Wallner blasts Twins to walk-off win and sweep of Arizona
The Twins had just four hits all game until they erupted with power in the ninth inning, using a solo homer by Max Kepler to tie the game and then walking off the Diamondbacks 5-3 on Matt Wallner's towering two-run homer.ย
WALK-OFF WALLNER #MNTwins sweep the Diamondbacks! ๐งน pic.twitter.com/TgUfbCgMzY
โ Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) August 6, 2023
"I was just trying to follow Max in his footsteps. He set the tone there and it's a lot easier to follow when you've got a tie game and a runner on," Wallner said on the Bally Sports North postgame interview.ย
Christian Walker's solo homer run into the left field bleachers in the ninth inning gave Arizona a 3-2 lead, and the Twins answered with Kepler's homer on the very first pitch of the bottom of the ninth. Kepler's blast was estimated at 438 feet and he now leads the team with 18 homers, including a homer in three straight games.ย
๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ซ ๐ง๐๐๐ฆ ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ฅ#MNTwins | #MLB pic.twitter.com/LOlPERt4tr
โ Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) August 6, 2023
Jorge Polanco then drew a pinch-hit walk before Wallner unloaded with a 415-foot shot.ย
Minnesota's bats were quiet most of the day against Arizona ace Zac Gallen, who threw seven innings and allowed just two runs on four hits while striking out eight.ย
It wasn't until the sixth inning that Minnesota got to Gallen. Willi Castro doubled and then Eddy Julien walked and stole second base, setting the stage for Carlos Correa's two-out, two run single to give the Twins a 2-1 lead.ย
Arizona came back in the top of the seventh and tied the game off Emilio Pagan, who started the inning by walking Corbin Carroll and later gave up an RBI double to Lourdes Gurriel Jr.ย
Dallas Keuchel made his first start of the season after spending time as a free agent before signing a minor league contract with the Twins on June 22. He started six games at Triple-A St. Paul and posted a 1.13 ERA before getting a chance to join the big league roster after Joe Ryan was placed on the injured list this past week.ย
The win coupled with Cleveland's loss to the White Sox has the Twins' lead in the AL Central up to 4.5 games.ย
Up next: Twins at Tigers, Monday at 5:40 p.m. CT.ย
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen.ย His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011.ย Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play.ย Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers.ย Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.ย