MINNEAPOLIS – Ryan Kreidler continued his career year with a tiebreaking two-out solo homer in the seventh inning as the Twins held off the Rockies, 3-2, at Target Field on Sunday afternoon. The win gave Minnesota its fourth series victory in five tries.
Connor Prielipp pitched one of the best games of his young career but did not factor in the decision. The rookie lefty struck out a career-high 10 and did not issue a walk over six electric innings, but left the game with the score tied.
Prielipp threw nearly 70 percent of his 93 pitches for strikes and got 20 swinging strikes. He averaged 95.9 miles per hour on his four-seam fastball.
It was still tied in the bottom of the seventh when Kreidler faced hard-throwing reliever Seth Halvorsen. He laid off a fastball out of the zone, then hammered a 97.9-mph heater at the top of the zone, drilling the pitch into the greenery over the center-field wall.
The back end of the Minnesota bullpen made it stand up, as Andrew Morris, Anthony Banda and Yoendrys Gómez pitched three scoreless innings to finish off the win. Morris pitched a perfect 1 1/3 innings, and Gómez recorded his eighth save in as many tries. Banda, however, was removed with an apparent injury after hitting the leadoff batter in the ninth inning.
Kody Clemens also homered for Minnesota, his seventh of the month and 13th of the year.