Kody Clemens went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs as the Minnesota Twins escaped with a 5-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Ryan Jeffers hit a solo homer for Minnesota, which salvaged a win in the three-game series. Victor Caratini added an RBI.
Garrett Mitchell and Christian Yelich each hit a solo home run for Milwaukee, which lost for only the second time in its past 10 games. Sal Frelick and Jake Bauers drove in one run apiece for the Brewers
Twins right-hander Bailey Ober (5-2) allowed three runs on six hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out one.
Brewers right-hander Grant Anderson (1-2) allowed one run on two hits in 1 2/3 innings of relief. He followed starter Robert Gasser, who allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits in four innings of his season debut.
Twins reliever Luis Garcia allowed a run in the ninth but notched his second save.
The Twins opened the scoring during the bottom of the first. Austin Martin drew a leadoff walk and scored from first on Clemens’ two-out double to right.
Milwaukee evened the score 1-1 during the top of the second. Frelick doubled to right to drive in Bauers from first base.
Minnesota grabbed a 3-1 lead in the third when Jeffers led off with a single to center, and Clemens followed with a double off the wall in left.
Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio tried to make the catch against the wall, but he could not get there in time. The ball bounced off the wall, ricocheted off his leg and rolled toward the corner.
Chourio chased down the ball and threw toward the infield, but cutoff man Joey Ortiz fired a wild throw past the plate as Jeffers came home. The ball skipped out of play, and umpires awarded Clemens home plate for the equivalent of a little league home run.
The Brewers pulled within 3-2 in the fourth on Mitchell’s solo homer.
Yelich tied the score 3-3 with a solo homer in the fifth.
The power surge continued as Jeffers led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo shot to put the Twins on top 4-3. Caratini added a sacrifice fly in the left to make it 5-3 in the eighth.
The Brewers tried to rally in the ninth but fell short. Bauers hit an RBI single to cut the deficit to 5-4, but Frelick popped up to end the game.
