It took a little longer than expected, and the climb was a bit steeper than anyone wanted, but the Minnesota Twins pulled off another walk-off win on Tuesday night.
Just days after Max Kepler drove in the game-winning run against the A's, Carlos Santana played the role of hero against the Rays. The walk-off came after a rain delay that lasted over an hour and polished off another comeback win for Minnesota.
Santana came in as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning, replacing Jose Miranda, and needed just three pitches to line a single to center and bat in the winning run. Per usual, Cory Provus was on the call for Bally Sports North and turned in another gem.
Listen to awesome Twins TV call of Carlos Santana walk-off vs. Rays
𝗪𝗔𝗟𝗞 𝗜𝗧 𝗢𝗙𝗙 𝗧𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗦!!#MNTwins 7#RaysUp 6 pic.twitter.com/FJZke3mat8
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) June 19, 2024
Provus has made it a bit of a habit to turn in these sorts of epic calls, something that helped get him the lead play-by-play job on TV as Dick Bremer's replacement. He was always someone worth tuning into the radio broadcasts for, and so far in his first year in the television booth he's lived up to expectations Twins fans had for him.
Santana also took a step toward living up to expectations set for him.
He's struggled a bit this year at the plate but seems to have started figuring things out. Even if he had been slumping, Tuesday was the exact scenario the Twins brought him in for. Rocco Baldelli played the strategy game and inserted a guy the team is relying on for offensive firepower, and he delivered a walk-off.
It's hard to ask for anything more than that. The win moves Minnesota under five games behind the Guardians for first place in the AL Central and goes down as the team's sixth straight victory.