Carlos Correa put on the "Land of 10,000 Rakes" vest backward when he walked through the dugout in the eighth inning, but there was too much excitement to worry about that.
Correa, who has hit so poorly with runners in scoring position, woke up a slumping offense with his first grand slam in a Twins uniform. Correa raised his right arm and let out a yell once he saw the ball land in the left field seats, teammates erupting in the dugout behind him.
The Twins were batting an inexplicable .135 with the bases loaded this season before Correa's go-ahead slam lifted them to a 9-4 victory over the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. In a sign of how much one swing can spark a team, Max Kepler followed Correa's second career grand slam with a three-run homer in a decisive seven-run eighth inning.
It was the Twins' highest run total since May 27. All that offense in a game when the Twins struck out a season-high 17 times, two shy of the franchise record in a nine-inning game.
"This hasn't been the easiest of weeks," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters in Toronto after his team tied for the fourth-highest run total for a team that struck out at least 17 times in a nine-inning game. "Did everything we could possibly do to stay in the game, the pitchers, making a few plays out there, Michael A. Taylor running around. You're just waiting for that moment."
Correa, who returned to the Twins on a six-year, $200 million contract, delivered the signature moment he's been missing all season. Facing righthanded submariner Adam Cimber, Correa deposited an elevated slider over the left field wall. Before that swing, Correa was batting .174 with runners in scoring position.
The Twins, who struck out seven times in the first three innings and 12 times through the first six, had an innocent start to their seven-run rally. Taylor dropped a bunt single, Edouard Julien blooped a single to left field and Donovan Solano lined a single to center.
With well-documented struggles with the bases loaded and no outs, Alex Kirilloff struck out on four pitches before Correa silenced the Toronto crowd of 41,990 with his loud blast.
The Twins offense looked powerless for most of the afternoon. Facing Trevor Richards, an opener for the Blue Jays, they had no answers for his changeup, a pitch he throws more often than his fastball. They whiffed on 13 of their 17 swings against the changeup.
Richards was out after three innings, throwing a season-high 53 pitches, but the Twins still had trouble putting the ball in play. The Blue Jays followed Richards with lefty reliever Tim Mayza (two strikeouts in 1⅓ innings) and righthander Bowden Francis (three strikeouts in 2⅔ innings), who made his second career appearance.
"In these bullpen type days, when you face them, they're not always easy," Baldelli said. "You're flipping from one pitcher to the other. You're trying to change your approach every single at-bat."
Trevor Larnach ended the Twins' shutout with a solo homer in the seventh inning, the ball flying past the outstretched glove of Blue Jays center fielder Daulton Varsho. It was the third time Varsho came close to robbing the Twins of a homer — he had two homers deflect off his glove on May 27 at Target Field.
There were no such doubts about Correa's 376-foot grand slam, and the Twins scored as many runs in the eighth inning as they did in their previous five games combined.
The Star Tribune did not send the writer of this article to the game. This was written using a broadcast, interviews and other material.
