Minneapolis, MN – Denard Span ended the marathon between Minnesota and Milwaukee, driving home the winning run with a two-out single in the bottom of the 15th inning to lift the Twins past the Brewers, 5-4, at Target Field.
Trevor Plouffe and Brian Dozier singled around a Ryan Doumit strikeout in the 15th. Jamey Carroll then slapped his fourth hit of the game to right field and Plouffe was eventually tagged out at third after running through a stop sign. But the base running miscue did not cost the Twins, as Span delivered with a base hit -- the Twins' 20th of the game -- to right to spoil Milwaukee's bid at a sweep.
"Both bullpens did a lot of pitching. So it was just one of those things where it was nice we were able to come out on top," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.
Juan Perez gave up the decisive hit to Span, but Tim Dillard (0-2) absorbed the loss.
Span also finished with four hits for the Twins, who snapped a four-game losing streak. Anthony Swarzak (1-4), the sixth Minnesota reliever used in the contest, picked up the win.
The Twins erased a 4-1 deficit in the seventh when starter Zack Greinke surrendered four consecutive two-out singles. Carroll drove home Plouffe, who led off with a walk, and Span reached on an infield hit before Ben Revere and Joe Mauer also delivered run-scoring hits. Greinke struck out Josh Willingham for a fourth time to end the inning.
"Just left too many balls over the plate. Especially that one inning. Most of their hits were on mistakes, just catching too much of the plate," Greinke said.
At the conclusion of the 11th, the game was delayed 42 minutes because of rain, which had been falling throughout afternoon.
Once the game resumed, the Twins squandered a bases-loaded opportunity in the 12th.
The Brewers scored in the first inning when Nyjer Morgan doubled and Aramis Ramirez plated him with a two-out, ground-ball single to left field.
Greinke pitched out of trouble in the bottom of the first. Revere singled with one down, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by Milwaukee catcher Martin Maldonado. But Greinke fanned both Mauer and Willingham to strand the runner.
The Twins did manage to tie the game in the third after the Brewers had a runner thrown out at the plate an inning earlier. Carroll led off with a single and consecutive groundouts moved him to third before Mauer stroked an RBI single to right field.
Milwaukee retook the lead in the fifth on Corey Hart's three-run homer. Norichika Aoki doubled and Morgan bunted for a base hit to begin the frame. After starter Nick Blackburn retired Ryan Braun and Ramirez, Hart crushed a 3-2 offering the opposite way to right field.
Game Notes
Milwaukee recorded 15 hits and left 17 men on base, two more than Minnesota...The Brewers were 3-for-17 with runners in scoring position...Braun finished 1-for-7, extending his interleague hitting streak to 22 games...Mauer was lifted for a pinch-runner in the seventh with a bruised quad muscle, an injury he sustained earlier in the game...Blackburn gave up four runs on six hits in six innings...Greinke allowed four runs and 11 hits over eight frames.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.