Twins beat Rays on walk-off bunt by Brooks Lee

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - JULY 5: Brooks Lee #2 of the Minnesota Twins celebrates his walk-off bunt with teammates during the ninth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Target Field on July 5, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Matt Krohn/Getty Images)
A walk-off-win is a walk-off win for the Minnesota Twins. (Photo by Matt Krohn/Getty Images)
Matt Krohn via Getty Images

Minnesota Twins utility man Brooks Lee supplied a walk-off hit against the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday. It left his bat at 38 mph.

With the game tied 5-5 and no outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Lee squared up to squeeze in Byron Buxton from third base. Rays first baseman Yandy Díaz attempted to make a play, but the ball bounced off his glove and left the final play of the game as a bunt hit.

The Twins celebrated the walk-off all the same:

It took a comeback just for the Twins to be in that position in the ninth, as they entered the bottom of the sixth inning down 5-1. A four-run rally tied the game, capped off by Kody Clemens’ 10th homer of the season.

Lee didn’t enter the game until the seventh inning, pinch-hitting for Trevor Larnach against the left-handed Mason Montgomery. He flied out on his first at-bat, but made good with the same platoon advantage in the ninth. It’s his second walk-off hit of the year, his first being a more traditional single on May 24.

It was also the Twins’ second straight game with a walk-off, having won on a Harrison Bader solo shot on Friday.

The win improves the Twins’ record to 43-46, still good for second place in the AL Central. They remain 3.5 games back for the third wild-card spot in the AL, currently held by the Seattle Mariners, and 12 games back from the league-best Detroit Tigers.

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