Twins beat Red Sox 5-4 after thunderstorm delay

With Chris Paddack traded and the clock seemingly ticking on a few of his teammates, Monday felt like the first day of Spoiler Season for the Twins. They’ll play 34 of their final 56 games, after all, against teams that currently occupy a playoff spot or are within four games of one, so the opportunity to break a few hearts over the season’s final two months seems enormous.

And it only got bigger Monday.

DaShawn Keirsey Jr. cracked his second homer of the season and, after the teams waited out a 90-minute thunderstorm, sparked a ninth-inning rally with a leadoff single. Brooks Lee finished off that rally with a walk-off single, and the Twins pulled off one of their unlikeliest victories of the season, 5-4 over the Red Sox at Target Field.

It’s enough to make the home team reject the whole notion of Spoiler Season. Who says it’s over?

“What just happened today, that can happen. You can make it happen. And our guys made it happen today,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Those wins, they feel very satisfying because they’re different. When you get pushed into a situation that’s not normal, that maybe makes you a little uncomfortable, that throws your routine off, and you still find a way to get it done, it feels good.”

It sure did for Lee, who lofted a looping line drive down the left field line, scoring Mickey Gasper and Willi Castro with the game-winning runs before a crowd of only a few dozen fans remaining from the 24,443 who paid to see it.

“We still knew we were going to play at some point tonight,” Lee said. “A lot of guys were in the clubhouse. Those are the times when you come together and figure it out.”

“No. Ty [France] was. That was the first thing he said to me,” Keirsey said with a laugh. “Just going through that at-bat, I got more confidence.”

Hicks then hit Gasper and Castro with pitches to load the bases. Carlos Correa grounded into a force play at home, but Lee, on an 0-2 count, smacked his third walk-off hit of the season, and of his career.

That Keirsey and Gasper played such an important role particularly pleased Lee.

“It’s the best. Because, I mean, we’re always side by side, and they’re working really hard,” Lee said. “DK deserves to get a hit and so does Mickey because they both grind their butts off. I was happy they put me in a position to do something good.”

That hit turned around what felt like a devastating loss on an emotional day, after the departure of the popular Paddack. Jhoan Duran allowed the tie-breaking run just before the rain hit.

It all changed when the rain passed.

“It’s awesome. It just goes to show the guys we have in this locker room. Rallying together,” Keirsey said. “It’s always a tough day [when someone is traded]. It’ll be a tough couple days, with the deadline and guys thinking about it. It was a bummer.”

The news was a bummer. The game? Something else completely.