With a thunderstorm drenching Target Field about an hour before first pitch Saturday night, the chances looked slim the Twins and Milwaukee Brewers would actually play.
Twins dodge rain, drop Brewers for second day in a row
The Twins took advantage of some bases-loaded opportunities and improved to 9-3 vs. first-place teams this month.
August 29, 2021 at 4:31AM
But the rain subsided long enough for them to start, and it was just light enough to keep playing when it started to fall again in the fourth inning.
The Twins blew a four-run lead in the fifth, but they limited the damage from there thanks to the bullpen for a 6-4 victory, their second in a row over the NL Central leaders.
"I think that was just everybody's mind-set, that we were going to get this game in," manager Rocco Baldelli said.
During a break in the rain, the Twins batted around in the fourth to grab a 4-0 lead when Jorge Polanco started the rally with a one-out double. With the bases loaded, Miguel Sano doubled to left-center to score Polanco and Josh Donaldson. Brewers starter Adrian Houser hit Twins shortstop Andrelton Simmons with a pitch with the bases loaded to score Sano, and a bases-loaded walk to Luis Arraez drove in Brent Rooker.
"We knew it was going to rain," Polanco said. "We just started to put some runs on and tried to win the game."
That was in case the game got called early. But Milwaukee's bats awoke for the first time this series in the fifth with four runs off rookie lefthander Charlie Barnes.
The first four Brewers batters in the fifth reached, and Caleb Thielbar came in to replace Barnes. Thielbar allowed two inherited runs to score, but he completed two innings of relief and improved to 6-0 on the season. Juan Minaya added two scoreless innings before Alexander Colome pitched out of trouble in the ninth inning for his ninth save.
The Twins got back on top in the sixth inning with the rain still coming down when they loaded the bases with nobody out. Simmons grounded into a double play, but that was enough for Sano to score the go-ahead run. Donaldson provided some insurance with an RBI double in the seventh, and the last-place Twins improved to 9-3 against first-place teams this month, with this series victory added to series victories over the Astros, White Sox and Rays.
"We're always trying to come here and win no matter what, and I think this team is going to be a really good team," Polanco said.
The eight Twins headed for arbitration are Royce Lewis, Joe Ryan, Jhoan Duran, Bailey Ober, Ryan Jeffers, Willi Castro, Griffin Jax and Trevor Larnach.
