Rockies vs Twins Recap: Last-Inning Marathon Sends Twins to Win

The Colorado Rockies came into Target Field looking to bounce back. Minnesota had just won the night before and was hungry for more. The Rockies' pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano took the mound with everything on the line. But the Twins' bats came alive right away. In the first inning, Kody Clemens crushed a splitter 380 feet into right field for a two-run home run. Byron Buxton was on base and scored easily. Then in the second inning, Brooks Lee stepped up and rocketed another home run to right—348 feet—with Royce Lewis scoring. The Twins jumped out to a 4-0 lead before the Rockies could even blink. Minnesota's young hitters were putting on a power show early.

The Colorado pitching staff had its hands full. Sugano stayed in the game through five innings but gave up seven runs. The Rockies' hitters looked lost at first, but they woke up eventually. In the fifth inning, the Twins kept adding on. Byron Buxton doubled down the left field line, scoring Trevor Larnach. Then Josh Bell came up and doubled as well, bringing Buxton and Clemens home. Minnesota pushed the lead to 7-0 and looked completely in control. The Rockies could not answer back early, and Sugano's struggles left Colorado's pitching staff searching for answers. The Twins' lineup was simply too much to handle in those early innings.

The game shifted in the eighth inning when Colorado finally started scoring. Mickey Moniak grounded out but Ezequiel Tovar scored to make it 7-1. Hunter Goodman hit a sacrifice fly bringing in Edouard Julien. Then TJ Rumfield singled to center and Jake McCarthy raced home. The ninth inning exploded. Julien doubled and McCarthy launched a rocket 381 feet into right-center for a two-run home run. The Rockies pulled within one run at 7-6. Then Goodman crushed another bomb 451 feet to left field. Suddenly it was 8-7, Colorado ahead. Minnesota answered back immediately. Byron Buxton singled in the bottom of the ninth. Royce Lewis singled in extra innings to win it 9-8. What a finish.