Minnesota Twins utility man Brooks Lee supplied a walk-off hit against the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday. It left his bat at 38 mph.
With the game tied 5-5 and no outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Lee squared up to squeeze in Byron Buxton from third base. Rays first baseman Yandy Díaz attempted to make a play, but the ball bounced off his glove and left the final play of the game as a bunt hit.
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The Twins celebrated the walk-off all the same:
It took a comeback just for the Twins to be in that position in the ninth, as they entered the bottom of the sixth inning down 5-1. A four-run rally tied the game, capped off by Kody Clemens’ 10th homer of the season.
Lee didn’t enter the game until the seventh inning, pinch-hitting for Trevor Larnach against the left-handed Mason Montgomery. He flied out on his first at-bat, but made good with the same platoon advantage in the ninth. It’s his second walk-off hit of the year, his first being a more traditional single on May 24.
It was also the Twins’ second straight game with a walk-off, having won on a Harrison Bader solo shot on Friday.
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The win improves the Twins’ record to 43-46, still good for second place in the AL Central. They remain 3.5 games back for the third wild-card spot in the AL, currently held by the Seattle Mariners, and 12 games back from the league-best Detroit Tigers.
