Twins get a big hit from Max Kepler en route to 8-4 victory over Mets

Max Kepler saw the ball flying toward the wall in right-center field, heard the crowd erupt and he gestured to his teammates as he ran up the first-base line.

It didn't end up exactly how Kepler imagined it.

He missed a grand slam by a couple of feet, the ball hitting off the top of the wall, but a three-run triple was a fine consolation prize.

"I pimped it a little too early," Kepler said after the Twins' 8-4 victory over the Mets on Saturday at Target Field. "Luckily, it took a bounce where I could advance to third. I'm not that guy, usually. I try to play the game hard. Hopefully, the baseball gods won't be too mad at me for that one."

Entering as a pinch hitter to face Mets reliever Drew Smith, Kepler pointed at his teammates after a head-first slide into third and broke into a wide smile as he high-fived coach Tommy Watkins. The near-slam, which had teammates breaking into laughter, was the breakthrough hit that evaded the Twins for several innings Saturday.

"I got some comments from my teammates that it's one of their favorite slides," Kepler said. "I don't know what I'm doing out there. I'm just having fun."

Kepler has been having plenty of fun lately. Since the All-Star break, he is batting .301 over 49 games with nine homers, 15 doubles and, now, one triple.

He was 2-for-11 as a pinch hitter this season when he stepped to the plate. The Twins extended the seventh inning after Willi Castro hit a leadoff single and was thrown out attempting to steal second base, only the fifth time he was caught stealing this year. Alex Kirilloff walked, Royce Lewis hit a single and Carlos Correa drew a walk to load the bases.

Kepler saw three sliders in his six-pitch at-bat, and he pummeled the third one to clear the bases.

"I've seen him play for a long time now," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "He's playing as good as he's ever played."

This is the version of Kepler the Twins had in mind when they kept him as an everyday starter through offensive struggles in 2021 and '22.

The biggest difference, the 30-year-old Kepler says, is he feels healthy.

"When the body feels good, then my mind feels good," he said. "Last year, I was playing with a fractured toe for a while, which people might care or not, but it affected my game, personally. I'm just happy to be healthy, mentally and physically."

Kyle Farmer followed Kepler's triple with an RBI double to right field. The four-run seventh inning came one inning after a failed squeeze bunt spoiled a potential rally. After back-to-back singles from Jordan Luplow and Farmer in the sixth inning, putting runners on the corners with one out, Ryan Jeffers attempted to drop a bunt against Mets lefty starter David Peterson.

Jeffers whiffed on the bunt and Mets catcher Omar Narváez tossed out Luplow at third base after he took a few steps toward the plate.

"Needed a big hit to break it open," Baldelli said. "Kep was that guy today. Feels like every day we've got a different guy coming through and doing something like that."

The Twins didn't attract much fanfare when they acquired Farmer, Luplow and Donovan Solano, but the trio of righthanded hitters are key against lefty pitching. They combined to reach base seven times. Solano lined a tying two-out, two-run single in the second inning before Luplow and Farmer had back-to-back hits to score the go-ahead run in the third.

Kenta Maeda, who pitched 5⅓ innings, gave up two runs in the top of the first inning, including a homer to Brandon Nimmo on his third pitch. He permitted only two hits after his opening frame after making an adjustment with his changeup, and the Mets didn't score again until Pete Alonso and DJ Stewart homered off Louie Varland in the eighth inning.

"Picking each other up every day, whichever way possible, has really been the key for us," Kepler said. "It kind of lacked in the first half. And I'm not calling out anyone, but to win ballgames, you have to do it collectively. Pitchers have to back the hitters and vice versa. That's been coming a lot easier."