Harrison Bader homers twice to lift struggling Twins to walk-off victory over Tampa Bay

New York Times

8 hours ago

MINNEAPOLIS — Louis Varland delivered a struggling offense and short-handed bullpen a big lift with two quick innings Saturday. Harrison Bader did the rest, delivering two big jolts.
Varland extended a tied contest with two scoreless innings and Bader bailed out his team's underwhelming bats with a pair of home runs, including a walk-off shot in a 4-3 Twins victory over the Tampa Bay Rays at Target Field.
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The first walk-off homer of Bader's career helped the Twins overcome an effort in which they finished 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and ran themselves out of an inning with a failed double-steal attempt while cleanup hitter Carlos Correa was batting, an attempt to spark a sputtering group.
Two innings after the Twins rallied to tie the game but failed to pull ahead, Bader ripped a first-pitch fastball from Kevin Kelly into the left-field bleachers to send the Twins into hysteria. Bader also provided the Twins a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning with a solo shot off Zack Littell, who allowed one run over six innings.
'It was awesome,' Bader said. 'Home runs are great. Walk-offs are awesome. It was my first one. It felt good just to deliver for my team, man. I really just want to deliver for my team.'
THE FIREWORKS CAME EARLY TONIGHT!!!!! pic.twitter.com/w2XwPrKRxt
— Twins.TV (@twinstv) July 4, 2025
The Twins entered Friday with four runs scored in their previous four contests. They'd been shut out twice in those games and lost three of the four.
Facing Littell in the third inning with two outs and runners on the corners, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli asked his players to execute a delayed double steal of home with Correa hitting, a strategy that would have been unimaginable in previous seasons. Though Willi Castro would have cruised home, Tampa Bay elected to throw through to second base to just catch Trevor Larnach stealing, which ended the inning.
'I would do it again in the same spot,' Baldelli said. 'We're trying to get something going. We're trying to grab a lead. … It was a good opportunity to do it. At that point, it didn't work out for us. Sometimes playing aggressively and trying to make something happen, I think, is the way to go.'
An aggressive mindset using Varland for a second inning increased the Twins' chances of victory on a day in which Jhoan Duran wasn't available.
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Immediately after the Twins tied it in the seventh, Varland needed 12 pitches to complete a scoreless top of the eighth inning. After the Twins stranded the go-ahead run in their half, Varland returned and retired the bottom of Tampa Bay's lineup on seven pitches. Because of Varland's effort, the Twins would have had Griffin Jax available to face the top of the Rays lineup in the 10th inning if the game extended into extra innings.
'He's a young, durable guy who has handled everything we've thrown at him,' Baldelli said. 'Guys will let you know how they're doing, how they're feeling, how they're throwing the ball and he's one that always steps up. … He's always saying, 'Pitch me. I want in there.''
His schedule is lighter as they try to eliminate the hip inflammation that has lingered for most of the season, but Bailey Ober remains active and throwing.
Maintaining arm strength appears to put Ober closest to returning among a growing number of key Twins who are steadily improving, a group that includes Zebby Matthews and Luke Keaschall. Twins ace Pablo López is also coming along nicely and is closer to resuming a throwing program, though he's not yet quite there.
On the 15-day injured list retroactive to Sunday with a left hip impingement, Ober could return early in the second half. The pitcher — who allowed a team-record 14 home runs in June — said he's received medicine to eliminate the hip inflammation and expects to be fine in a few days.
Ober initially began experiencing hip issues in April, several weeks after he tweaked his knee on a pickoff play late in his final spring training outing. Though he carried a 3.48 ERA through May and never missed a start, Ober allowed 30 earned runs in 30 innings in June, which prompted the decision to shut down.
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'You're just kind of maintaining and doing what (you) need to do to succeed and then it gets to a point where you're not able to do that anymore,' Ober said. 'Then you have to look at yourself in the mirror and say, 'Alright, is this what I should be doing? Should I be doing something else?' And that's kind of where I was at the last start.'
Twins athletic trainer Nick Paparesta and his staff treated Ober's hip routinely throughout the first three months, an issue the pitcher described as manageable after a brief period where it altered his mechanics.
Paparesta noted Friday that Ober's measurables — his jumps, spin rate, and the way velocity held during starts — indicated the pitcher wasn't far off where he needed to be. However, when Ober continued to struggle with recovery between outings, the team determined it was time for an IL stint.
The hope is Ober will be rid of the hip inflammation quickly and begin to ramp up starting Tuesday or Wednesday.
'It definitely helps his opportunity to get back into game activity quicker because his arm is still moving and going,' Paparesta said. 'There are some other things that the pitching side is trying to address from a mechanical standpoint. Those we'll start being able to get into hopefully Tuesday or Wednesday once we give him these 72 hours to let the inflammation calm down and then we kind of build him up from there moving forward.'
Whereas Ober handled the struggles well early on, his last two turns were far more difficult on the pitcher. He kicked the mound upon surrendering one of four home runs at Comerica Park on Saturday and sounded despondent after each of the past two starts.
On Friday, Ober sounded more at ease.
'It takes the pressure off myself to get my hip ready to pitch,' Ober said. 'I'm able to relax just a little bit on that end. But obviously trying to come in here and get back as soon as I possibly can. I'm putting in a lot of work right now trying to get my mechanics in line to not really have me compensate and affect how I'm throwing the baseball. I feel like that's the biggest thing right now.'
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With two bullpens already complete, Matthews is scheduled for a third Sunday and could soon face live hitters, including Keaschall.
Keaschall is awaiting full clearance after undergoing another X-ray on his broken right forearm on Thursday. On the IL since April 26, Keaschall is already facing velocity off the team's Trajekt pitching machine and is throwing up to 75 feet while performing all other baseball activities.
If he's cleared, Keaschall would potentially face live hitters several times before getting into rehab games.
'I'd prefer to try to test it out a little bit more,' Paparesta said. 'You put him in a game and start him on a rehab assignment and then you have to pull him back because then he's getting soreness. Probably the best decision is to make sure he's able to go out there regularly to get live at-bats before we put him in regular games.'
Matthews couldn't contain his excitement Friday when approached by media members, though he withheld comment until after Paparesta spoke. Matthews' second bullpen included a second inning as he ramps up from a shoulder strain that has sidelined him since June 5.
'Once we see how he does with the hitters next week, we'll make another announcement after that,' Paparesta said.
A recent MRI revealed López is healing but still needs additional time before he can begin throwing. López, who went on the IL with a Grade 2 Teres Major strain retroactive to June 4, still could begin to ramp up his efforts soon, too.
'Things are progressing nicely,' Paparesta said. 'The inflammation and the edema is totally gone. It's not all the way healed yet, so we're not ready to start throwing yet. We need to do the best thing we can for him for the long term and not just worry about the short term and strengthen him up and make sure his range of motion gets back to where we want it to be. Then look to get him into some throwing activity next week.'
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