SEATTLE — The ball really flies at T-Mobile Park, Max Kepler said approvingly after hitting a home run on Monday. He repeated the feat on Wednesday, but when it really mattered, Kepler practically flew, too.
The Twins' veteran outfielder, who has collected a hit in all six games since the All-Star break, hustled around second base when Willi Castro singled in the eighth inning and slid safely into third. That extra base proved critical when Mariners catcher Tom Murphy allowed a pitch to glance off his glove, the opening Kepler needed to score the go-ahead run that helped deliver the Twins' 6-3 victory.
Kenta Maeda matched Kepler's resurgence with one of his own, retiring 18 of the 21 hitters he faced over 6⅓ innings. And Edouard Julien? Somehow, his hitting streak is getting even hotter.
Julien, the no-longer-temporary fill-in while Jorge Polanco recovers from a hamstring injury, saw seven pitches in drawing a first-inning walk, and nine more in walking in the seventh. In between, the Canadian rookie singled in the third inning and hammered a middle-of-the-plate fastball from All-Star righthander Luis Castillo into the seats in right-center, his ninth home run of the year.
Julien — whose playing time and even his position remain a question mark as Polanco nears a return from the injured list — is now 15-for-23 over his last seven games, a .652 batting average that includes three doubles and three home runs. He is 8-for-11 in three games this week in T-Mobile Park.
Maeda, meanwhile, was dazzling in his second start since the All-Star break, a turnaround from the four-walk, three-inning performance he struggled through in Oakland. With a fastball reminiscent of his 2020 season — the pitcher averaged 91.8 mph, his highest velocity in two years — Maeda surrendered a bloop single by J.P. Crawford to start his night, then retired 15 consecutive hitters, eight of them via strikeouts.
He made a mistake to Murphy with one out in the sixth, and paid for it when Murphy drove it over the center field wall, snapping the spell.
Maeda was lifted after giving up a one-out single in the seventh inning, having allowed only three hits over 6 1/3 innings. But what happened next prevented Maeda from earning his third victory of the season.
Griffin Jax, who hadn't allowed a run since May 19 and hadn't given up a home run all season, left a two-strike sweeper in the middle of the zone. Eugenio Suarez clobbered it over the scoreboard in left field, tying the game and setting off a loud celebration by the 25,825 in attendance.
It was only temporary, though. Kepler's passed-ball run, followed by Alex Kirilloff's two-run ninth-inning homer, a positive finish for the first baseman who struck out in each of his previous four at-bats.
