MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Michael A. Taylor homered to lead off the seventh inning, the third solo shot of the game for the Minnesota Twins in a 3-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night.
“We had good at-bats. We were able to hit some balls out of the ballpark, but there were a lot of hard balls hit,” Taylor said. “It could’ve looked very different, I think.”
Jorge Polanco and Max Kepler went deep against Diamondbacks starter Merrill Kelly, who otherwise cruised through six innings with nine strikeouts against the club that leads the major leagues in whiffs.
“He’s such a perfectionist,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “He’s disappointed. I knew it when I took him out of the game.”
Taylor greeted Scott McGough (1-7) with an opposite-field drive off a 1-2 fastball into the flower boxes above the limestone facade beyond right field that put the Twins in front.
Jhoan Duran recorded his 20th save in 24 tries for the Twins, the flame-throwing closer’s latest shaky finish. Duran gave up a walk and a single with one out, before getting a big break when Geraldo Perdomo popped up his first-pitch bunt attempt for an easy out in front of the mound.
“The barrel was still getting into position when the ball was upon him,” Lovullo said. “We’ve got to perfect that punch list of things you’ve got to go through before you make that decision.”
Ketel Marte struck out looking to end it on a 99 mph fastball on the outside edge from Duran, who has only one perfect inning in his last 13 appearances.
