Carlos Correa seemed to be everywhere last fall when his free-agent trek took him from San Francisco to New York and ultimately back to Minnesota.
He was all over the place again Wednesday, driving in a run and being in the right place at the right time in two key plays in the field, helping the Twins beat the Blue Jays 2-0 and complete a two-game sweep of their AL wild-card series.
The Twins hadn’t won a postseason series since 2002, and now move on to the ALDS against the Astros, who’ll host game one on Saturday in Houston.
The victory was the second straight for the Twins after they snapped a North American sports record 18-game postseason losing streak by beating the Jays 3-1 in game one.
Twins starter Sonny Gray pitched five gutty innings, allowing no runs while striking out six.
Jhoan Duran, the Twins' fourth reliever, allowed a hit and struck out three in a scoreless ninth to pick up the save in front of a delirious sellout crowd of 38,518 at Target Field.
The celebration began immediately in the center of the diamond after Daulton Varsho swung and missed on Duran's 103 mph fastball, the dugout and bullpen emptying to create a mosh pit between the mound and third base.
As the players donned their blue commemorative T-shirts, members of their families made their way out of the stands down the first-base line to join in the fun.
The on-field party lingered for several minutes, with the players swarming on top of the pitchers' mound for a group photo.
Front and center was Correa, as the fans who stayed to watch it all chanted "Let's go Twins!"
Gray's outing ended not with a crackling fastball, but a twirling toss to second on a timing play, Correa sneaking in behind Vladimir Guerrero and slapping down the tag to end the Jays’ best scoring threat of the day.
George Springer had singled and Guerro walked, with both moving up a base on a wild pitch.
The count was 3 and 2 when Gray hooked up with Correa for a play that brought back memories of the Tim Lauder-to-Gary Gaetti throw that picked off Detroit's Darrell Evans at third base in the fourth game of the 1987 ALCS.
A replay review confirmed that Correa lunged and tagged Guerrero on the chest before the Toronto baserunner squeezed his left hand onto the base.
A not-do-dazzling but equally critical play came an inning later.
Matt Chapman hit into an inning ending, 6-4-3 double play with the bases loaded, with Correa making the scoop and toss to Eduardo Julien, who completed the play with a strong throw to Donovan Solano at first to nip Champman by a half-a-step.
The play came one pitch after Chapman drilled a Caleb Thielbar fastball down the left-field line that just curled foul by less than a foot.
It was Correa who bounced a single up the middle with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth that brought home Royce Lewis for a 1-0 Twins lead.
Max Kepler then made it 2-0 when he scored as Willi Castro hit into a double play.
Former Twins ace Jose Berrios appeared to be cruising for Toronto, but the righthanded starter was pulled when he walked Lewis leading off the bottom of the fourth.
Berrios struck out five in three innings while allowing three hits.
Gray played the role of the bulldog again for the Twins, striking out six in five innings while throwing 85 pitches.
The bullpen for the Twins allowed no runs by the Blue Jays, who managed to score only once in the two games.
The ALDS opens with Games 1 and 2 this Saturday and Sunday at Minute Maid Park in Houston, followed by Games 3 and 4 (if necessary) at Target Field on Tuesday, October 10 and Wednesday, October 11.
Game 5, if necessary, will be on Friday, October 13 in Houston.
Times will be announced by Major League Baseball soon.
Single-game tickets for ALDS Games 3 and 4 between the Twins and the Houston Astros at Target Field will go on sale to the public at noon CT on Friday, October 6; tickets will be available for purchase exclusively at twins.com/postseason
NOTES: The last Twins postseason series win was in the 2002 ALDS, when they outlasted the Oakland A’s three games-to-two as dramatized in the movie Moneyball. ... Toronto had the tying run at the plate at the end of both game one and game two. ... There was some nervousness in the game's latter stages when Correa was hit in the right hand by a pitch and it appeared Duran's thumb began bleeding while warming up for the ninth. Both stayed in the game. ... The Twins had a 4-2 record against the Astros during the 2023 regular season, taking two of three at both Target Field and Minute Maid Park. ... Thielbar did not throw a ground-ball double play in 36 regular season appearances. ... With Tampa Bay getting swept by Texas in the other wild-card round, the Jays and the Rays are tied with the longest postseason losing streak at seven games. ... Berrios now has 436 career strikeouts at Target Field in regular season and postseason play, tied with Kyle Gibson. ... Jorge Polano, playing out-of-position at third base in both games, had a line-drive go in and out of his glove but was ruled a hit in his only chance of Game Two after having an error and overrunning a slow-moving grounder in Game One.