Arizona Diamondbacks vs Minnesota Twins Match Player Stats On Aug 04, 2023

Michael A. Taylor led off the bottom of the seventh with a home run to break a 2-2 tie and power the Minnesota Twins to a 3-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the opener of a three-game series on Friday night in Minneapolis.

Jorge Polanco and Max Kepler also homered and Christian Vazquez had two hits for Minnesota, which won for the third time in its last four games. Caleb Thielbar (1-1) picked up the win in relief, allowing no hits while striking out two over 1 1/3 innings. Jhoan Duran pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his 20th save.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. homered and scored two runs and Jake McCarthy had two hits and a walk for Arizona, which lost its fourth straight game.

Right-hander Scott McGough (1-7) took the loss for the Diamondbacks, who are a major-league-worst 7-20 since July 2.

Arizona took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Gurriel lined his 17th home run of the season into the bleachers in left. The 388-foot drive snapped a scoreless streak of 18 innings for the Diamondbacks.

Minnesota tied it in the third on Polanco's sixth homer, a 387-foot drive inside the right field foul pole.

Arizona regained the lead, 2-1, in the fourth when Gurriel was hit by a pitch, took second on a single by McCarthy and scored on a bloop single by Jose Herrera.

Kepler tied it, 2-2, in the sixth when he led off with his 16th homer of the season, a 408-foot drive to right-center.

The Twins then took their first lead of the game in the seventh when Taylor homered to right, his 14th blast of the season. McGough then walked the bases loaded, but Luis Frias got out of the jam by striking out Willi Castro.

Arizona had a chance to tie it in the ninth against Duran when McCarthy walked with one out and advanced to third on a single by pinch hitter Alek Thomas. But Geraldo Perdomo popped out to Duran trying to bunt, and Ketel Marte was called out on a 3-2 splitter to end the game.

--Field Level Media