Are the Twins good again?
In the bottom of the tenth inning, Ty France delivered a walk-off RBI single up the middle, allowing Byron Buxton to score and give the Twins a 4-3 win against the New York Mets Wednesday afternoon at Target Field.
Thanks to France's heroics, the Twins have won three out of their last four games.
France’s walk-off hit capped off a back-and-forth game between the Twins and Mets
After a three-up, three-down first inning for both teams, Jesse Winker reached base on a 101 mph double to right field to lead off the top of the second inning. Brandon Nimmo followed with a weak fly ball that dumped in front of Bader for a single. Bader quickly threw the ball accurately to catcher Ryan Jeffers, who tagged out a diving Winker at the plate.
David Festa, who started the game and hurled 4 ⅓ scoreless innings on five hits and one walk with six strikeouts, induced a strike out of Luisangel Acuña for out number two, and Tyrone Taylor flew out to deep center field for the third out.
Brooks Lee nearly gave the Twins a two-run lead by hitting the ball 329 feet to right fielder Juan Soto on a sinker from right-handed pitcher Justin Hagenman, who entered the game in the second inning after a scoreless first inning from Huascar Brazobán, for the second out of the second inning.
Harrison Bader hit a sharp ground ball single to left field with one out in the third inning. Edouard Julien showed he doesn’t only hit the ball the opposite way, moving Bader to third after notching a hustle-double on a sharp line drive to right center.
The Twins failed to capitalize on the opportunity, as Byron Buxton hit a ground ball to third baseman Brett Baty, who threw out Bader at home. France struck out swinging on a cutter outside the zone to end the frame.
In the top of the fifth inning, Festa allowed a pair of singles, one from Tyron Taylor and the other from Brett Baty, and struck out Hayden Singer before hitting Lindor with a fastball to load the bases. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli brought in lefty Danny Coulombe, who threw 1 ⅓ scoreless innings on Wednesday, to face Juan Soto. Soto hit a ground ball to Julien, who tagged Lindor before stepping on first base for an unassisted double play.
Bader, who went 5-for-7 in the Twins’ series with the Mets, gave the Twins a 1-0 lead on an RBI single to left field that drove in Willi Castro, who reached base on a double. Byron Buxton extended the lead to 2-0 on an RBI single up the middle, allowing Bader, who reached second base after Julien grounded out sharply to Acuña, to score.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Castro hit a sharp ground ball fielded by a diving Pete Alonso, who threw the ball to first. Castro utilized his speed, beating out the throw for an RBI single.
Pete Alonso hit a hard line drive double down the left field line off Griffin Jax in the eighth inning, allowing Francisco Lindor to score. Jesse Winker followed with an RBI double of his own, pulling the ball to right field to lower the Mets’ deficit to one.
The series of unfortunate events for Jax didn’t stop there. After Nimmo grounded out, Acuña hit the ball hard (97.8 mph) for a single under Castro's glove, allowing Winker to cross home plate and tie the game 3-3. Bader showed off his defensive skills once again, running toward the infield before making a diving catch to end the top half of the inning on a line drive from Taylor. Jax’s ERA rose from 4.05 to 7.04.
Bader walked to start the bottom of the ninth and was called safe at second on a steal attempt. However, an umpire review determined that Bader overslid the bag while getting tagged by Lindor, who caught the ball from catcher Luis Torrens. Edwin Diaz struck out the next two batters, Julien and Buxton, to end the frame.
Cole Sands pitched a scoreless top of the tenth inning before France's clutch hit.
First base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt left the game in the top of the seventh inning after getting hit in the head on a line drive from Taylor.
Twins set to take on Atlanta Braves
The Twins head to Atlanta for a three-game series with the Atlanta Braves on Easter Weekend. While the Atlanta Braves have been one of the top teams in Major League Baseball the past few seasons, they have a 5-12 record this season.
Game one of the series between the Twins and Braves is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. CST at Truist Park.