Two days after being booed by fans at Target Field, Carlos Correa played the role of the hero Thursday afternoon by delivering the go-ahead two-run double to lift the Minnesota Twins to a 5-3 win over the San Diego Padres.
Tied 3-3 in the seventh, Correa ripped a ball down the third baseline that scored two runs to give the Twins a two-run cushion.. Despite the big hit, Correa is batting .193 this season, which is what prompted the boos for the $200 million shortstop just two days earlier.
The win has the Twins at 21-17, three games ahead of the second-place Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central.
The Padres wasted zero time jumping out to a 1-0 lead as Fernando Tatis launched a 369-foot homer into the left field bleachers on Bailey Ober’s first pitch of the game. That was the beginning of a back-and-forth day in which the Padres also took leads of 2-1 and 3-2, only to have the Twins punch back all three times.
Down 1-0, Joey Gallo walked with the bases loaded to tie the score in the second inning. Down 2-1, Kyle Farmer smacked a solo homer into the second deck in left to make it 2-2. And down 3-2, a run scored on Max Kepler’s bases loaded fielder’s choice groundout just before Correa hit the go-ahead double in the seventh.
San Diego scored its runs on solo homers by Tatis and Rougned Odor, and an RBI double by Juan Soto.
Ober didn’t factor in the decision but posted a quality start by allowing three runs on six hits in six innings. He struck out six and walked none. Emilio Pagan, Brock Stewart and Jorge Lopez pitched the final three innings, with Lopez earning the save by striking out ex-Twins slugger Nelson Cruz to end the game.
Up next: Twins open a three-game series at home against the Cubs on Friday. First pitch is at 7:10 p.m. and the game will be streamed exclusively on Apple TV+.
