Fernando Rodney blew his first save with the Twins. It seems only fair to credit Max Kepler with one, though.
The Twins built a seven-run lead Wednesday, then gave it all back, Houston's tying run scoring on a wayward Brian Dozier relay throw that could have been the final out. But just when a faith-shaking loss appeared inevitable, Kepler stepped up and socked a full-count slider from Brad Peacock into the right-field seats, rescuing his team with his second home run of the game for a 9-8 victory over the Astros at Target Field.
"I was battling. Battle mode. Just trying to put the ball in play," Kepler said of his second career walkoff blast. "It was right over the middle, kind of low. I like them low."
Maybe so, but he rockets them high, just as he did to the Twins' sagging spirits. "It's big. They're really good over there," Dozier said of the defending World Series champions. "We let a big lead slip away, but Kepler saved us."
The game could have been a confidence-building blowout, as the Twins combined five hits with three walks against Lance McCullers Jr. in the fourth inning, an eight-run eruption that had three of the most frustrated hitters at its core. Eddie Rosario, Logan Morrison and Kepler, who had stranded a combined total of 29 runners on second or third base by going 2-for-21 with runners in scoring position this season, all came through with run-scoring hits.
Rosario smacked a bases-loaded triple to the wall in right-center, bringing home three runs. Morrison followed with a ringing RBI single.
And two batters later, Kepler blasted a home run just inside the right-field foul pole, putting the Twins up 8-1.
In most cases, an eight-run inning might make for a relaxed, cruise-control afternoon, especially with a pitcher who has not lost since early August on the mound. But not so with the Astros, who had not lost a series to the Twins since 2015. As Houston chipped at the lead, it became difficult to tell which team was winning, Twins manager Paul Molitor said.
