Royce Lewis walks it off after Twins lose lead late
· Yahoo Sports
Twins 9, Rockies 8 (10)
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How it unfoldedThe Twins took control of the game early, using a pair of two-run home runs in the first two innings to do so.
Kody Clemens took starter Tomoyuki Sugano deep in the first inning, giving the Twins a lead they would hold for most of the night. Brooks Lee followed an inning later with his own shot.
The Twins then put together a two-out rally in the fifth inning, scoring three runs with a trio of doubles.
But the Rockies came storming back, scoring eight unanswered runs off the Twins bullpen. Kody Funderburk entered for Bradley in the eighth and a pair of inherited runners scored, as well as a run of his own.
Things further imploded in the ninth inning when Eric Orze gave up a run on an Edouard Julien double and then surrendered a two-run blast to Jake McCarthy. Anthony Banda then entered and gave up his first two earned runs since May 8, surrendering a 451-foot third-deck blast to Hunter Goodman.
The Twins punched back, though, using a chopper from Byron Buxton that former Twin Willi Castro couldn’t handle to score the game-tying run in the bottom of the ninth inning. After a clean top of the 10th from rookie Andrew Morris, Royce Lewis sent a ball back up the middle to make walk-off winners of the Twins. It was the first walk-off of his career.
Starting pitcher performanceFans near the first base dugout stood and clapped as Taj Bradley made his way towards them. Bradley clapped his hands back as he departed in the eighth inning of his outing on Friday night. Though he left with a pair of runners on and both came around to score, it was the end to a great night for Bradley, who had thrown seven scoreless innings before running into trouble in the eighth.
The Twins starter allowed three hits in his outing, at one point sending down 10 of 11 batters. He also struck out seven, including the 500th of his career. It was another step in the right direction for Bradley, who has now looked good in each of his past three starts after hitting a rough patch earlier this month.
Up nextMike Paredes (0-0, 4.05 ERA) will get the ball in the second game of the series and will be opposed by Michael Lorenzen (2-9, 7.11 ERA). The game is scheduled to start at 6:10 p.m.
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