On their last homestand, the Minnesota Twins had two come-from-behind walk-off wins. The first came in the series finale on Sunday against the Chicago White Sox. Trailing 3-0 going into the bottom of the 9th, Minnesota’s offense rallied to score three runs and send the game into extra innings. They would tie the game again in the 10th inning before Ryan Jeffers eventually walked the game off in the bottom of the 12th, finishing off a three-game sweep of the Sox.
Minnesota would repeat this feat the next day in their series opener against the Seattle Mariners. Kolton Wong’s 2-out, go-ahead homer in the top of the 9th stunned the Target Field crowd. However, the Twins rallied again to tie the game and send it to extras, where Carlos Correa walked it off in the bottom of the 10th.
The Twins won four of six games in last week’s homestand including the two late-inning comebacks. Minnesota’s offense has struggled quite a bit this season, but over the last two series, they have shown a lot of fight after falling behind. This is a welcome sight for fans, who have seen the Twins’ offense struggle to provide run support for the pitching staff plenty of times this year.
Even in the two losses on the homestand, the lineup was able to make it interesting. In Saturday night’s loss, Michael A. Taylor put together a really solid at-bat that ended in a leadoff homer in the bottom of the 9th. The Twins ended up falling 9-7, but Taylor created some excitement late. The next day, the Mariners led 8-3 in the 6th inning, but Minnesota put up four runs to cut the deficit to 8-7. This recent trend of the Twins rallying late even in losses has made it feel as if they were never out of a game no matter how far they fell behind.
So what is Minnesota doing at the plate that has helped them make these late-inning comebacks? Let’s take a look.
One of the biggest things that the Twins have been doing this week to put up runs in clutch situations is adjusting their approach based on the scenario. In both of the walk-off wins during the homestand, the Twins did not hit any home runs while they were coming back. Instead, Minnesota just put the ball in play and kept the line moving. Wednesday’s comeback against Seattle fell short, but Matt Wallner’s 6th-inning home run kickstarted their four-run inning. However, it also featured two RBI singles and an RBI double. That shows that the lineup hasn’t just been trying to swing for the fences during every at-bat, even though they can hit for power.
A big part of the lineup’s production recently has been major from the team’s veterans and young players alike. Correa is finally turning things around after a rough first half of the season and has shown plenty of promise hitting from the leadoff spot. Max Kepler has hit .286 over his last 15 games, after many fans were calling for him to be sent down due to poor showings earlier this season. Three of Minnesota’s young stars, Edouard Julien, Alex Kirilloff and Royce Lewis, have shown a remarkable ability to make adjustments at the plate depending on the situation. Wallner seems to be coming into form as well, with three home runs in the series with Seattle. This Twins team will be tough to beat down the stretch and in the postseason if the bats can continue to contribute in the way they have as of late.
Minnesota’s recent ability to come back late even in games that they end up losing is definitely a great sign for the lineup. It shows that this team definitely has the ability to come through in clutch situations, something that they have had trouble with for prolonged periods of the season. Additionally, the lineup will soon get reinforcements in the form of Jorge Polanco returning from injury and Byron Buxton coming back from the paternity list. If the pitching continues to be as solid as it has for much of the year, and the offense can keep up the solid production that it has shown over the past week, they may finally start to pull away in the American League Central race in the final two months of the season.
