Twins rally for walk-off win over Rays; pass Royals for second place

Carlos Correa had three more hits to stay red-hot for the Twins.

Jun 18, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins first base Carlos Santana (30) celebrates his game winning hit with pitcher Jhoan Duran (59) against the Tampa Bay Rays in the ninth inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports / Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

The Twins found themselves in a 4-0 hole and later trailed the Tampa Bay Rays 6-4 but in the end it was Minnesota leaving the ballpark with a 7-6 victory to extend its winning streak to six.

The hero? Carlos Santana, whose pinch-hit line drive single off Phil Maton scored Manuel Margot with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. The walk-off win moved the Twins to 41-32 overall and a half-game ahead of Kansas City for second place in the Central Division, 4.5 games behind first-place Cleveland.

Minnesota fell into a 4-0 hole early thanks to a Randy Arozarena three-run homer off Pablo Lopez in the first inning. Lopez then allowed a solo homer to Brandon Lowe in the fifth before he was pulled and Jay Jackson surrendered a solo shot to Josh Lowe.

Down 6-4, Max Kepler led off the fifth inning with a solo homer and the Twins tied it following a rain delay on Ryan Jeffers' sacrifice fly that scored Carlos Correa.

The Twins' first runs of the night came in the fourth inning on a three-run triple by Willi Castro and an RBI double by Trevor Larnach.

Correa went 3-for-4 at the plate to continue his hot streak. He has 27 hits in his last 51 at-bats and he's now slashing .317/.379/.517. His .317 batting average ranks fifth in Major League Baseball, only trailing Luis Arraez (.318), Marcell Ozuna (.320), Jurickson Profar (.320) and Bobby Witt Jr. (.321).