I'll say it again: What. A. Game. The Twins got their fourth walk-off win this season off the bat of, who else, Brian Dozier. The man of the hour, man of the week and major snub in the #FinalVote for the All-Star Game.
Where do I start? There are so many things to write about from this amazing comeback victory, in a game that the Twins just did not seem to be in until the 8th inning. The Twins put together just two hits through seven innings; two singles off the bats of Miguel Sano and Kurt Suzuki. That was it. No runs, as Justin Verlander pitched into the 8th inning and looked dominant against the Twins, as he has so many times before.
Even after Dozier got an RBI single in the 8th to get his team on the board, 6-1 at that point, it still didn’t seem like they could pull off a win. OK, it seemed very, very unlikely.
Well, the game did a 180.
An are-you-kidding-me kind of comeback
Along comes the bottom of the 9th inning. Joe Mauer leads it off with a single, and Sano follows that up with a ground-rule double to left. Trevor Plouffe strikes out. Eddie Rosario singles to make it 6-2 and steals a base, an original out call that was overturned thanks to a Molitor challenge.
Then Detroit closer Joakim Soria comes in. He walks Aaron Hicks to fill the bases. With no place to put the No. 8-hitting Suzuki, Soria beans him with a pitch, giving the Twins another run. It’s 6-3 now with the bases full. Danny Santana came through with a two-run single up the middle, despite cries from social media circles and the press box for Molitor to bring in a pinch hitter. Suddenly it’s 6-5 and Target Field, for those loyal fans that didn’t leave to get a jump on the traffic, was rocking.
Who steps up to the plate but Dozier. One of the best second baseman in the American League and in all of baseball. Just look at some of the stat sheets; he's leading or near the top in most of the categories. But he didn’t get voted to the All-Star Game the first time around. And he wasn’t named as a reserve player by the AL manager. He lost out on the #FinalVote Friday to Mike Moustakas of Kansas City, despite one of the coolest social media campaigns out there. #VoteDozier
Dozier goes deep
So, this non-All Star didn’t waste any time. He blasted the first pitch he saw to the left field seats. It was the same place he put his other walk-off home run earlier this week in a victory over the Baltimore Orioles. Before that, he didn’t have a walk-off homer to his name. Give him a week, and he has two of them.
If you like stats, here's a couple good ones for you. Dozier is the first player in Twins history, since 1961, with multiple walk-off homers in a week and the first in franchise history since Roy Sievers in 1958, according to ESPN Stats/Info. He’s also four home runs away from tying his career-high of 23, which he achieved last season.
The Twins finished the game with 10 hits, after they had two through seven innings. They had eight runs, seven of those coming in the bottom of the ninth inning. According to ESPN Stats/Info, the Twins are the first team in baseball in two seasons to overcome a deficit of five runs in the ninth.
This was a pretty great game, and one of the best rallies you’ll see for a long time. It’s one thing to see your team get a walk-off win on a home run. But for it to come from Dozier this week, twice, was pretty awesome. It makes for some great stories, that’s for sure.
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