Twins walk off Athletics after blowing 4-run lead
Despite blowing a 4-0 lead, the Twins walked off the Athletics 7-6 on Sunday to close out their series with Oakland. After Luis Arraez reached on a single in the bottom of the ninth, Ehire Adrianza roped an RBI triple, scoring Arraez.
With the tying run at third, Max Kepler hit an RBI single to give the Twins the win.
BALLGAME. #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/TWQcKSVMud
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) July 21, 2019
For Kepler, it's his fourth walk-off hit of his career and it caps off a 3-for-5 day at the plate.
After Jorge Polanco opened the scoring with an RBI double in the bottom of the first, Kepler smacked a three home run, putting the Twins up 4-0. For Kepler, it was his 24th of the season.
Runners on? Time for a #Bomba from the #BombaSquad leader! 💣💣💣#MNTwins pic.twitter.com/7XYSJ4zBnG
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) July 21, 2019
Michael Pineda started for the Twins and the righty battled some control issues – allowing five free passes – and surrendered a two-run home run to Josh Phegley. He was pulled but all in all he went 5.1 innings allowing three runs on four hits, with eight strikeouts and five walks.
Trevor May once again had a tough performance. May faced 10 batters, giving up three runs, two hits and three walks in 1.2 innings of work.
Oakland scratched across runs in fifth, sixth and seventh but it was former Twin Chris Hermann who roped a pinch-hit RBI double in the eighth inning scoring – another former Twin – Robbie Grossman which tied the game 5-5. Followed by a Josh Phegley's sacrifice fly, putting the A's up 6-5.
Despite Oakland having the lead and hard-throwing Liam Hendricks on the mound in the ninth, the Twins were able to wipe away what would've been a disastrous performance.
With the win, the Twins improve to 60-38 on the season and will close out their homestand with a three-game series against the New York Yankees at Target Field starting on Monday.
