Brooks Lee leads Twins to win over Reds

MINNEAPOLIS — Playing without their two best hitters in the lineup and needing a win to avoid a back-breaking sweep at home to a non-contending team, the Twins dug really deep and found the biggest game of Brooks Lee’s young career.

This perhaps wasn’t the loose play and reclaiming of a team identity that manager Rocco Baldelli had preached to right the ship, but something seemed to change after the Twins scratched together a three-run, go-ahead rally in the sixth, highlighted by Lee’s two-run, go-ahead single as part of a five-RBI day to turn the momentum in a 9-2 victory over the Reds at Target Field.

“I hope it happens at an even better time in the playoffs,” Lee said. “I hope I can do that there, too. It feels great. It’s just important to win. We avoided getting swept. The bats were on fire. We pitched well. Everything came together today.”

With the Tigers also victorious on Sunday, the Twins’ lead for the final AL Wild Card slot held steady at 2 1/2 games, while their deficit behind the division-leading Guardians is 6 1/2 games, with four more head-to-head matchups slated to begin on Monday in Cleveland.

Lee had a huge afternoon on both offense and defense, further highlighted by his first career triple, a three-run, bases-clearing knock as part of the Twins’ five-run seventh. He also made a nice stop and throw from deep in the hole at shortstop and a great tag at second, all while starting in place of the newly healthy-ish Carlos Correa, who returned to the roster on Saturday.

While Lee had said just earlier in the week that his approach felt like it was “in the dumps” as he felt early to the ball and faulty in his pitch selections while mired in an 0-for-19 slump, he has continued to look the part at shortstop while his bat has woken up for nine RBIs in his last four games.

“He’s very comfortable out there, and you will trust him probably more than you’ll trust most young infielders that are coming up for the first time,” manager Rocco Baldelli said.

The Twins’ ability to come from behind and rally highlighted the mindset that veteran Kyle Farmer had hoped the Twins’ rookies would internalize as the times got tough in their first playoff push: “Don’t play to give it up. Play to take it.”

That is, play like the Twins are the chasers trying to seize a spot, not like the team losing its grasp on a spot and afraid to give it up.

That’s what Lee and the Twins did as they turned deficit into advantage in the sixth, when Carlos Santana doubled and Trevor Larnach walked before Ryan Jeffers hit a two-out double to tie the game, 2-2, then Lee’s two-run bloop to right field put the Twins on top.

That seemed to break the seal.

“Everyone just throws their hands in the air and the smiles come out,” Baldelli said. “At some point, someone’s going to battle in an at-bat and bring some runs home.”

The Twins strung together good plate appearances in the seventh, when they scored five more — all with two outs — thanks to a two-run homer by Carlos Santana, his team-leading 22nd, and Lee’s triple down the right-field line. The triple gave Lee only his second multihit game of the month after he was recalled from Triple-A as part of September roster expansions.

The need, now, is for the Twins to tangibly build on this on a tricky road trip that involves four games in Cleveland and three in Boston, the latter a series that could have key implications for the Wild Card chase.
There’s a universe in which the Twins could have entered that stretch flat after being on the wrong end of a sweep, with the offense stagnant and their playoff berth hanging by a thread — but instead, they found a late spark.

“I think this sport, at least mentally, builds around momentum, when it’s going into the game tomorrow feeling good about how we played today and showed our resilience and not going into tomorrow pressing,” Jeffers said.

And, as Farmer said, the Twins are playing to take the reins.

“I think it’s hard to change the whole team’s mindset, but he definitely has,” Lee said. “I think we feel better. Even after our loss yesterday, we still had good vibes. Everyone was pumped up this morning.”