MINNEAPOLIS — Everyone’s talking about Royce Lewis and Carlos Correa lately, and rightfully so.
But Max Kepler’s starting to make some noise again, and on a historic level, too.
Kepler set the all-time record for home runs at Target Field on Friday night with a tying three-run blast. Four innings and a 99 mph fastball to the elbow later, he moved into a tie for third in franchise history in walk-off hits as his 10th-inning RBI single helped the Minnesota Twins secure a 6-5 comeback victory over the Oakland A’s in front of 35,631.
After trailing by four runs in the first inning, the Twins rallied for their third straight victory and fifth in six contests. It also marked their 17th comeback win of the season.
“I ain’t going to lie, I knew,” longtime teammate Byron Buxton said when asked if he knew about Kepler’s record-setting trip around the bases. “When it comes to Kep, that’s my boy. I keep up with just about everything he do. I don’t care what it is. It’s just cool to see him stick with one team and stay by my side. It’s just something that keeps me going. No matter what we’re going through, we talk it out amongst ourselves and everything else is better.”
One of the team’s best during its hot streak in May, Kepler’s bat appears to be getting healthier once again. During Wednesday’s blowout victory, Kepler, frustrated by a rough 17-game stretch in which he produced a .399 OPS, threw out his batting gloves before ripping a ninth-inning sacrifice fly in a win over Colorado.
He followed it up with a hit, walk and a run in Thursday’s victory.
Then Kepler took it up a notch Friday.
He singled in his first at-bat off Oakland starter Mitch Spence in an inning in which the Twins later cut the deficit to 4-1 on Buxton’s two-out RBI triple. Then in the sixth inning, Kepler made his first historic contribution of the night. Following singles by Willi Castro and Correa, who went 1-for-4 with a walk and two runs, Kepler belted a first-pitch slider from Spence for a homer, his first since May 22.
The homer was Kepler’s 81st at Target Field, which moved him past former teammate Brian Dozier into first place. It’s another milestone for Kepler, who on May 25 became the 18th player in Twins history to play 1,000 games.
“Honored,” Kepler said. “Once again, honored. Thankful. Grateful. Living the dream, you know? Yeah. Thank you to the Minnesota Twins for giving me this opportunity, because it’s very generous of them. … It took me a while to (set the record). It’s been, I think, almost a month without a homer.”
MAD FREAKIN MAX!!!
LET’S GOOO #MNTWINS pic.twitter.com/wHNNohuHEo
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) June 15, 2024
Kepler didn’t wait long to make his next contribution, though he probably would have preferred to do it in a less painful way.
Batting in the eighth inning with Correa at first, Kepler extended a tying rally when A’s reliever Lucas Erceg hit him flush in the right elbow with a fastball. Two batters later, Carlos Santana drew a tying, bases-loaded walk against Oakland closer Mason Miller.
The eighth-inning rally and two scoreless innings from Jhoan Duran set the stage for Kepler’s game-winning heroics. With two on, no outs and lefty Scott Alexander on the hill, Kepler thought about bunting the runners over in part because of his elbow. Instead, assistant hitting coach Derek Shomon convinced Kepler to let it rip and he did, lining a first-pitch sinker off the glove of Tyler Soderstrom into right for the game winner.
The walk-off ties Kepler with Kent Hrbek for third in Twins history at 10 each. The only Twins with more walk-offs are Kirby Puckett and Harmon Killebrew, who are tied with 11.
“He’s essential,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Since I’ve been here, at least, every time we’re rolling and we’re good, he’s really good, he’s right in the middle of everything. He competes really well against a lot of different kinds of pitchers. He’s a guy that puts the ball in play, he’s a guy that can hit the ball as hard as anyone. He can do a lot of different things. And this year, for periods of time, he’s been as good a hitter as we’ve had, too. He’s going to get going for most of the second half. Second-half Kep, like last year, we’ll take that all day.”
The hit brought relief on a night in which the Twins debuted their City Connects and hoped it would be simple as cake. Playing in front of the biggest crowd of the season in their house, and with a Flo Rida concert scheduled for after the game, the Twins found themselves feeling low. The good feelings were absent when starting pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson issued a few wild ones, walking the first two batters he faced and loading the bases for Shea Langeliers, who brought his bat right round and connected on a first-pitch slider for a grand slam.
Two innings later, Buxton laced a two-out whistle over the head of center fielder JJ Bleday for an RBI triple that woke the crowd back up.
“(The crowd) was great,” Woods Richardson said. “Energy is amazing. We feed off of that. We love it.”
#MNTWINS WALK-OFF WIN!!!!!!!
WE LOVE THE CITY CONNECTS!!!! pic.twitter.com/3D5HYXfqn9
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) June 15, 2024
(Photo of Max Kepler running amid gum thrown at him after his walk-off RBI single Friday night: David Berding / Getty Images)
