Minnesota Twins Sweep Arizona Series

MINNEAPOLIS -- — Matt Wallner hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday to give the Minnesota Twins a rain-delayed 5-3 victory and a three-game sweep of the skidding Arizona Diamondbacks.

Christian Walker had put the Diamondbacks ahead 3-2 with a solo home run in the top of the ninth.

Max Kepler led off the bottom half by hitting his third homer in three games. Jorge Polanco walked and Wallner sent a soaring drive off the facing of the right-center scoreboard off new Arizona closer Paul Sewald (3-2), who was acquired from Seattle in a trade Monday.

“With us struggling, and finally getting that chance to try and get off this losing streak and get called upon to do what I’m supposed to do and then fail miserably, it’s disappointing,” Sewald said.

Wallner's home run was no surprise to Kepler, however.

“He’s legit,” Kepler said of his rookie teammate. “He’s a beast. A big ceiling for him.”

Minnesota handed the Diamondbacks their sixth straight defeat and opened a 4 1/2-game lead in the AL Central over Cleveland.

Dallas Keuchel, the 2015 AL Cy Young Award winner, made his Twins debut and first appearance in the majors since Sept. 2, 2022, for Texas. He signed a minor league deal with the Twins on June 22 and went 1-0 with a 1.13 ERA in six starts at Triple-A St. Paul.

RHP Pablo López (6-6, 4.01) faces the Tigers in Detroit on Monday night. López struck out 10 in his only start against Detroit this year.