Joey Gallo hits a 2-run homer in the 9th to send the Twins past the Athletics, 5-4
Joey Gallo could have lost his cool in the seventh after being called out on strikes as a pinch-hitter.
Instead, he stayed ready.
Gallo broke a tie with a two-run homer in the ninth inning and the Minnesota Twins snapped a three-game losing streak from before the All-Star break by beating the Oakland Athletics 5-4 on Friday night.
"He did a good job of keeping it together and then going up there and being prepared to hit a 100 mph fastball," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "He smoked it. He caught it right where he wanted to catch it. That's a nice way to punctuate the beginning of the second half for Joey and for the team."
Donovan Solano led off the ninth with a double against Shintaro Fujinami (5-8) before Gallo connected for his team-leading 16th homer an out later.
Griffin Jax (5-6) pitched a scoreless eighth for the victory and Jhoan Duran finished for his 13th save after allowing JJ Bleday's RBI single and hitting Brent Rooker with a pitch.
"That's a good feeling to start the second half," Solano said.
Christian Vázquez singled off Sam Moll to start the eighth and Max Kepler added a base hit before Fujinami entered and induced Carlos Correa's inning-ending double play in a 10-pitch battle.
Jace Peterson hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the third, then Edouard Julien doubled to tie it for Minnesota in the fourth.
Lucas Erceg retired Byron Buxton on a called third strike to escape a bases-loaded jam in the sixth — one of four Ks by Erceg among his five outs.
Twins hitting coach David Popkins was ejected by plate umpire Nic Lentz for arguing when pinch-hitter Gallo was called out on strikes in the seventh.
Kyle Farmer hit an RBI triple in the first following Buxton's sacrifice fly.
Kenta Maeda struck out six over three innings but missed earning his first decision in three career outings against Oakland. He was trying to win consecutive starts for the first time all season after missing all of 2022 recovering from Tommy John surgery.
A's starter Ken Waldichuk — the first of three left-handers for Oakland in this weekend series — struck out five over 3 2/3 innings, allowing three runs and three hits.