Max Kepler’s single with one out in the 17th gave Minnesota a 4-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox early Wednesday in the longest game by innings in Target Field history.
Kepler hit a tying homer in the 13th before his hit down the first-base line past a five-man Red Sox infield scored Luis Arraez to end a game that took 5 hours, 45 minutes — tied for the fourth-longest in Twins history.
The winning hit came off Brian Johnson (1-1), who pitched the 17th inning for the Red Sox. Johnson threw three innings as Boston’s starting pitcher Sunday.
The Twins used eight arms out of the bullpen to back up Michael Pineda’s strong start. Boston had a runner on third and nobody out in the 17th but couldn’t score against Zack Littell (1-0), who earned his first career win.
The game ended at 12:55 a.m. local time on the first walk-off win of the season for the Twins, who have yet to lose three straight games all season.
