MINNEAPOLIS _ Max Kepler dove into second base with a first-inning double, then later ended the Twins' 7-6 victory over Oakland on Sunday with a walkoff single in the ninth inning.
Their beleaguered bullpen gave up another lead on Sunday, but the Twins offense bailed them out.
Max Kepler singled home Ehire Adrianza from third with the winning run as the Twins crafted a 7-6 walkoff win over Oakland to salvage a split of the four-game series.
Things looked bleak in the late innings as the Twins blew a 5-3 lead and were 4-for-18 with runners in scoring position. But Luis Arraez delivered a one out single to left, then Adrianza charged up the announced crowd of 34,070 when he hammered a slider thrown by All-Star closer Liam Hendriks off the right field wall.
Jason Castro struck out, but Kepler stepped to the plate and lined a single to left, scoring Adrianza with the winning run. The Twins have just two walk off wins this season, and Kepler has the winning hits in both of them.
The Twins can take a breath now before the open a three-game series against the Yankees on Monday.
The Twins led 5-4 in the eighth when Trevor May attempted to work a second inning of relief despite throwing 21 pitches in the seventh. He walked leadoff hitter Robbie Grossman and gave up an RBI double to pinch hitter Chris Herrmann that tied the game,
Herrmann moved to third on a passed ball by Jason Castro, then Josh Phegley's sacrifice fly allowed Herrmann to score.
The Twins failed to capitalize on scoring opportunities the entire afternoon. Jorge Polanco, for instance, reached second to lead off the eighth inning when Ramon Laureano misplayed his fly ball. And Polanco was stranded on the bases, as Nelson Cruz grounded out _ shortstop Marcus Semien made a strong play to his left to grab the ball _ Eddie Rosario popped out in foul territory and Miguel Sano struck out.
The Twins have used seven relievers in recent days. It might be time to call up an eighth.
An argument to strengthen the pitching staff can be made through the offense.
Through the Twins first 69 games, they averaged 6.0 runs a game and 2.0 home runs a game. They batted .273 with a team on base-plus-slugging percentage of .854.
They entered Sunday with a 12-16 record since then. During that run, they averaged 4.7 runs a game and 1.6 home runs a game while batting .264 with a .775 OPS. The offense is not as productive, leading to closer games and making it more important to have as strong of a staff as possible.
A couple other factors worth noting: Jorge Polanco entered Sunday batting .236 since June 13, and the outfield of Byron Buxton, Eddie Rosario and Max Kepler have not played together since June 14.
A run of injuries have affected the continuity in the lineup, as several players are shaking off nagging injuries.
"There was a run where almost every guy we had was either on the IL or playing with something that maybe could put them on the IL," Baldelli said, "and that was definitely a challenging stretch that I think we weathered pretty well."
But good teams play through those, and the Twins need to keep grinding as the Yankees come to town for three games starting on Monday.
For a moment on Sunday, it looked as if the Twins' production line was back intact.
Kepler led off the first with a double to right and Jorge Polanco drove him in with a single for the first run of the game. Then Kepler batted in the second a drilled a three-run home run to right. The Twins led 4-0. Kepler had hits of 106.5 miles per hour and 105.2 mph off of A's starter Daniel Mengden.
The Twins, however, stranded two runners in the third and two more in the fourth. Oakland began to scramble back getting a two-run home run from Phegley off Michael Pineda in the fifth. Ehire Adrianza delivered an RBI single in the bottom of the inning, then the Twins loaded the bases with no outs. But Kepler hit into a double play and Polanco lined out. The Twins are batting .208 with the bases loaded and entered the game 27th in baseball in that category.
The A's got a sacrifice fly in the sixth and then closed to 5-4 in the seventh when Marcus Semien scored on a wild pitch by Trevor May. May, with the tying run on third, recovered to strike out the next three batters.
Pineda gave up three earned runs over 51/3 innings on four hits and a career-high tying five walks. The last time he walked five batters came on June 28, 2011.
