The Twins defeated the Padres 4-3 in 11 innings on Wednesday afternoon. Twins starter Pablo Lopez stifled the Padres, allowing just 1 hit and no runs through the first 6 innings of the game. Max Kepler blasted a solo homer in the 1st inning, and Carlos Correa drove in Kepler with an RBI-double in the 3rd. Juan Soto hit a solo homer off Lopez in the top of the 7th to cut Minnesota's lead to 2-1, and helped the Friars get to the Twins bullpen. The Padres had an opportunity to take the lead in the 8th, loading the bases with just one out for Manny Machado, who would tie the game on an RBI-sac fly. Juan Soto followed that up with a grounder to first base, and the Padres would have to settle for a tie game.
The Padres cashed in on their automatic baserunner in the top of the 10th, as Austin Nola delivered a squeeze bunt to allow Rougned Odor to score from third base after he advanced on a flyout by Trent Grisham. However, the Padres couldn't hold the Twins off the board in the bottom half of the frame, as Donovan Solano drove in their automatic runner with a single off of Josh Hader, sending the game into the 11th inning.
The Padres had a great opportunity to score in the top of the 11th inning, but Matt Carpenter struck out looking with the bases loaded to end the inning. In the bottom half of the inning and needing just to drive in their automatic baserunner, the Padres intentionally walked Carlos Correa to create force plays at each base. But Alex Kiriloff roped a ball down the first base line, and Max Kepler scored to end the game. The rubber match between these two teams will be Thursday morning at 10:10 am.
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