Kepler powers Twins to 17-inning win over Red Sox
Max Kepler singled with the bases loaded in the 17th inning to give the Minnesota Twins their first walk-off win of the season, 4-3 over the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night in Minneapolis.
Kepler, who finished 3-for-5 with three RBIs, including a game-tying homer in the 13th inning, drove in Luis Arraez in the 17th.
Arraez singled with one out off Brian Johnson (1-1) and the advanced to third on Eddie Rosario's third double of the game. C.J. Cron was intentionally walked to load the bases, and Mookie Betts was brought in as a fifth infielder. Kepler then lined his game-winner down the right field line to end the longest game in Target Field history in terms of innings.
Rosario finished 4-for-8 for Minnesota, which snapped a two-game losing streak. Zack Littell (1-0), the ninth pitcher for the Twins, picked up his first major league victory by pitching two shutout innings.
Rafael Devers went 3-for-8 with a homer and two RBIs, and Andrew Benintendi and Brock Holt also had three hits for Boston, which had its season-high six-game winning streak snapped.
Betts, who finished 1-for-6 with two runs, gave Boston a 3-2 lead when he led off the 13th inning with 12th home run of the season midway up the left field foul pole. But Kepler tied it while leading off the bottom half when he lined a Hector Velazquez fastball 391 feet into the upper deck in right-center.
Boston took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning when Betts led off with a walk, stole second and then scored two outs later on a single by Devers.
Minnesota, shut out for the first time since April 30 in a 2-0 loss in the series opener on Monday night, tied it in the bottom of the fourth. Rosario doubled with two outs and scored on a single to right-center by Cron.
The Red Sox regained the lead in the seventh when Devers led off with his 12th home run of the season off reliever Ryne Harper, a 374-foot drive into the right field bleachers.
The Twins tied it, 2-2, in the eighth against reliever Brandon Workman on a two-out RBI single by Kepler, driving in Mitch Garver, who led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch.
Minnesota shortstop Jorge Polanco singled leading off the bottom of the first to extend his consecutive on-base streak to 32 games, the longest in the majors this season. However, Polanco finished the night 1-for-8.
--Field Level Media
