MINNEAPOLIS — Carlos Correa had his first signature moment with the Twins when he hit a go-ahead grand slam in Toronto last weekend, and he brought his encore to Target Field.
Correa blasted a two-run walk-off homer off Brewers closer Devin Williams to complete a comeback 7-5 victory at Target Field on Tuesday, a stunning four-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning that gave Williams his first blown save of the season.
It was a no-doubt blast from Correa, the first walk-off homer in his major league career. He tossed his bat and did his popular celebration where he taps his wrist before trotting around the bases. He was greeted by a mob of teammates at home plate where Correa dodged water from a Gatorade cooler.
The walk-off homer came one inning after the Twins stranded the bases loaded and helped salvage a game when Pablo López had a slightly better pitching line than Corbin Burnes.
López had all his pitches working, racking up at least one strikeout with his fastball, slider, curveball and changeup. He worked ahead in counts, throwing a first-pitch strike to 17 of his 23 batters. His nine strikeouts were one shy of a season high.
It was just that third inning that troubled him.
López opened the third inning with a five-pitch walk to Luis Urías, a hitter who entered Tuesday with one hit in his last 19 at-bats. Three batters later, López had Christian Yelich in a 0-2 count and tried three pitches out of the strike zone. Yelich didn't chase any of them, then hammered a two-run double to the wall in right-center field.
After a two-out RBI single from Rowdy Tellez in the third inning, López retired 10 of his final 12 batters – and one reached on an error. Three of the four hits López surrendered, and the only walk, came in the third inning.
Corbin Burnes, the annual Cy Young candidate, nearly suffered the same fate as López. The Twins responded to their three-run deficit in the third inning with three consecutive hits, including a sun-aided double from Edouard Julien that led to a slow reaction from right fielder Brian Anderson.
With two runners in scoring position and no outs, Donovan Solano drove in a run with a line drive single through the right side of the infield. Then Burnes retired 12 of his next 13 batters before Kyle Farmer ended his outing with a solo homer in the seventh inning.
