Bader hits pair of homers -- including his 1st career walk-off shot

MINNEAPOLIS -- After a rocky, up-and-down first half that has seen them play the most road games of any MLB team, the Twins could desperately use some smooth sailing as the All-Star break approaches. Thanks to Harrison Bader, Louie Varland and multiple other contributors, they took a step in that direction on Friday.

Bader hit a pair of solo home runs, including a leadoff, walk-off shot in the ninth inning, to give Minnesota an urgently needed 4-3 comeback win over the Rays at Target Field. Bader connected with Kevin Kelly’s first pitch of the ninth and deposited it over the wall in left field to complete the win.

Varland pitched two key shutout innings, preserving a late tie and putting Bader in position to hit the game-winner. It was the first walk-off homer of the veteran outfielder’s career. The Twins had lost four of five since a brief winning streak, and had scored a total of three runs in their previous four games.

“It feels great,” said Bader. “You just genuinely have to believe you're always one pitch away or one swing away or one diving play away from making the tides turn.”

Bader also hit a first-pitch solo homer into the upper deck in the fifth inning for the game’s first run. But the Rays rallied against Chris Paddack and the Minnesota bullpen, taking a 3-1 lead before Minnesota came back.

The series opener also marked the beginning of a nine-game homestand, an opportunity for the Twins to claw their way up the Wild Card standings and encourage the front office to add talent as the Trade Deadline approaches. Minnesota is 23-17 at Target Field on the year, versus 19-29 away from home.

“It’s perfect timing as we creep up on the All-Star break,” said Paddack, who allowed two runs on five hits over five-plus innings. “Haven’t been playing good baseball, so hopefully we can change that this homestand and get the [fans] something to cheer about as we go into the second half of the season and start counting down the games.”

The Twins missed out on scoring chances in the first and third, and the game was scoreless in the fifth. Bader, who had been 5-for-28 with no extra-base hits over his previous eight games, jumped on a high sinker from starter Zack Littell and hammered it into the upper deck. The lead was short-lived, though.

After Paddack had been outstanding over the first five innings, he ran into trouble in the sixth. He allowed hits to the first two batters of the inning, immediately after Bader’s first homer, and was lifted for reliever Danny Coulombe. The Rays took the lead against Coulombe and added another run against Brock Stewart in the seventh, but Varland did not allow a baserunner in the eighth or ninth to put the home team in position to win.

A two-run outburst keyed by Byron Buxton’s bloop double and capped by a pair of hit batsmen that led to a run being scored tied the game, but that’s where it stayed until the ninth. That’s when Bader came to the plate again, saw another sinker over the plate, and went deep for the ninth time this year and the second time in the game.

“This is his first year here, and we knew right off the bat when we saw this guy he’s a gamer,” said manager Rocco Baldelli. “He loves to play. He loves the game itself. He’s always learning. He pays attention to what’s going on in the game as well as anybody we have, continues to learn. He’s getting better every pitch because he is locked in and figuring out what he’s going to do next.

“Sometimes it’s just hitting two home runs in a game. Even if you’ve been in this league and you’re successful and you’ve been around a long time, those are very, very big moments and you never forget them.”