MINNEAPOLIS -- For the first time since 2014, the Diamondbacks got a win at Target Field. It certainly wasn’t easy, which is fitting for the 2025 edition of this team.
Gabriel Moreno beat out an infield single with two outs in the 10th inning, allowing Jorge Barrosa to score the go-ahead run as Arizona held on for a 5-2 win on Saturday night.
The win snapped a nine-game losing streak in Minnesota for the Diamondbacks, who last won here on Sept. 22, 2014.
"We haven't played good baseball here," Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. "But it's nice to get a big win here today."
The win came on the heels of what was an excruciating loss Friday night when the Diamondbacks rallied for four runs in the ninth to take the lead, only to get walked off in the bottom half of the inning when they gave up three runs.
Saturday's script was a little different, but it was still dicey at the end.
Arizona got an outstanding performance from starter Ryne Nelson, who held the Twins scoreless through six innings. The previous night's loss, he said, was not on his mind when he got to the ballpark Saturday.
"I think regardless of the situation, or the standings or anything like that, I try to approach each game the same way, the same mentality, the same will to win," Nelson said. "And I think that today was just a very good collaborative team effort, win. Bit of a grinder at times. But, we definitely fought hard today."
The win keeps the Diamondbacks on the periphery of the NL Wild Card race, with the final spot within their reach, as they have 13 games left to play. However, they currently trail the Reds, Giants and Mets for the final spot.
Still, it's a possibility, and given that the Diamondbacks were sellers at the Trade Deadline, it's certainly an unexpected one.
"You would be happy to be a game or two out with a week left in the season, if you were a seller at the Deadline," said reliever John Curtiss, who picked up the win. "When I was with the Twins in 2017 or 18, Joe Mauer said that all you can ask for in the Postseason is a [poker] chip and a chair. Like, we have a chip and we have a chair, let's play cards and let's just try to win."
The Diamondbacks built a 2-0 lead behind Nelson, who has emerged as the team's best starter over the last four months despite being left out of the rotation out of Spring Training. Nelson wound up starting only because right-hander Corbin Burnes was lost early in the season to Tommy John surgery.
That lead evaporated quickly in the eighth when the Twins scored a pair of runs off Taylor Rashi to tie things up.
The Diamondbacks grabbed a 5-2 lead in the 10th when Moreno beat out a two-out infield single, allowing automatic runner Barrosa to score from third base. One batter later, Blaze Alexander gave Arizona some breathing room with a two-run double off the right-field wall.
"It's coming down to the wire," Alexander said. "I think that's a whole lot of fun. I think every guy in here, it's not we're not showing up with nothing to play for. We got everything to play for. I like our shot."
There's still a lot of work to do to get there, but for another day the Snakes are still alive.