MINNEAPOLIS — Carlos Correa hit a two-run homer for Minnesota to cap a four-run ninth inning off closer Devin Williams, giving the Twins a 7-5 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night.
Correa crushed a 1-1 changeup from Williams (3-1) into the left-field seats, dropping his bat as he turned to his dugout and tapped his wrist to signal it's his time, like he did for Houston in the 2021 postseason.
Williams, who took his first blown save in 11 attempts, didn't record an out and had his sparkling 0.42 ERA spike to 2.08. Michael A. Taylor greeted him with a home run, and Eduoard Julien walked.
Then pinch-runner Willi Castro stole second and raced home — ignoring the stop sign from third base coach Tommy Watkins — on Donovan Solano’s tying single before Correa delivered the walk-off drama.
Williams, who gave up just two homers in 60 2/3 innings last season, brought an opponent batting average of .110 into the game. The Brewers lost for the first time in 29 games when leading after eight innings and saw their losing streak stretch to five games despite a homer and a season-high four RBIs by Christian Yelich.
Yelich, the 2018 National League MVP who hasn't been the same dominant hitter since the broken kneecap that ended his 2019 season, drove in just three runs over his previous 24 games. He hit a two-run double off Twins starter Pablo López in the third inning before Rowdy Tellez crushed an RBI single, and his two-out, two-run shot in the seventh against José De León gave the Brewers a 5-2 lead.
Yelich and Victor Caratini each had three hits for the Brewers, who squandered another strong start by Corbin Burnes.
After eight shutout innings to beat Baltimore last week, Burnes was pulled after a leadoff homer by Kyle Farmer in the seventh. The right-hander's ERA (3.44) is a full run higher than in his 2021 National League Cy Young Award season, but he has been deftly holding Milwaukee's injury-depleted rotation together.
Minnesota's lagging lineup had plenty of opportunities against him, with a leadoff hit in each of the first three innings. Solano and Correa drove in runs in the third, but Alex Kirilloff and Royce Lewis struck out to end that threat.
The Twins loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth inning against Joel Payamps, but Joey Gallo watched strike three sail by. The Twins, who are on pace to set the all-time major league record for strikeouts in one season, whiffed 11 times.
López, who was coming off a hard-luck 2-1 loss to MLB-leading Tampa Bay last week, finished six innings with nine strikeouts.
Josh Winder (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings for the victory.
FAMILY TIME
Manager Craig Counsell was back with the Brewers after missing their game on Sunday to attend his son's high school graduation ceremony. Then he watched Jack play for Whitefish Bay, where both Counsell and his wife, Michelle, attended, in the Wisconsin state baseball tournament on Monday.
COMING SOON
Veteran outfielder Raimel Tapia, who was cut by Boston on June 5, joined the Brewers in Minnesota and even took pregame batting practice on the field. The Brewers did not immediately confirm the addition of Tapia, who is a .276 hitter in 606 major league games and batted .264 for the Red Sox in 39 games.
GETTING CLOSER
The Twins took Gallo, the team leader with 11 home runs, off the injured list after a nine-game absence with a strained left hamstring. Gallo went 1 for 3 with a double and a walk.
Designated hitter Byron Buxton, who missed his 10th straight game with bruised left ribs, was still feeling some soreness and “a few more days” from returning, manager Rocco Baldelli said.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Brewers: LHP Wade Miley, one of nine Brewers pitchers on the injured list, will slide back into the rotation on Saturday at home against Pittsburgh, Counsell confirmed. Miley, who has been out since May 16 with a strained muscle in the back of his shoulder, threw five scoreless innings in a rehab start for Double-A Biloxi on Sunday.
Twins: Starting a stretch of 16 games without a day off, the Twins will add a sixth starter to the rotation at least once, Baldelli said. That could be RHP Kenta Maeda, who has been out for seven weeks with a strained right triceps, but he will make at least one more rehab start with Triple-A St. Paul first.
“I feel ready right now,” Maeda said through his interpreter. “That’s up to the team to make that decision.”
UP NEXT
Brewers: RHP Colin Rea (3-3, 4.47 ERA) pitches to finish the two-game series.
Twins: RHP Bailey Ober (3-3, 2.61 ERA) takes the mound on Wednesday afternoon.
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