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Morneau's walk-off homer lifts Twins past Brewers

Jun 17, 2007 - 10:45 PM MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Justin Morneau helped put an end to an uneasy day.

Morneau hit a walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Minnesota Twins overcame blowing a seven-run lead to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers, 10-9, on Sunday.

After Twins closer Joe Nathan (3-1) surrendered two runs in the top half of the frame for his second blown save of the season, Morneau blasted the second pitch of the inning - a 1-0 offering from Chris Spurling (1-1) into the right field seats for his 20th home run of the season.

"We never really felt comfortable," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "They kept putting good swings on the ball. That usually doesn't happen to our bullpen."

Minnesota led, 9-2, after five innings, but Milwaukee rallied for two runs in the sixth and three more in the eighth before getting to Nathan in the ninth.

The ninth inning started with a harmless fly ball by Prince Fielder to center field, but center fielder Lew Ford never saw the ball. He ran to his left but the ball was hit to his right and landed 70 feet away. A lumbering Fielder circled the bases for his National League-leading 25th homer.

"Halfway to first I saw he didn't see it, so I figured I might as well start running hard," Fielder said. "It was a little exciting. I actually felt like I was in Little League. It was pretty cool. I never thought I'd be able to do that."

"I just never saw the ball," Ford said. "It's tough. It's upsetting. I was just so pumped when Morneau hit that homer. I just said, 'Thank you, Justin.' He came up big."

Milwaukee then loaded the bases with no outs on three consecutive singles before Nathan struck out Tony Graffanino and Craig Counsell lofted a shallow fly to right-center field. Ford made the catch running in, but the ball got stuck in his glove and his throw was up the first base line, allowing Bill Hall to easily score and tie the game.

Up until the ninth, Ford had a great game after entering when Torii Hunter left in the first inning after being hit by a pitch by Milwaukee starter Jeff Suppan.

Ford drove in a career-high four runs; he entered the contest with just four RBI in 62 at-bats this season. Unfortunately, losing the ball in the roof will be the final memory of Ford taken from Sunday's contest.

"That's what I'm going to remember," Ford said. "One play can be crucial in the game. It was a big play. Usually fly balls are automatic outs. It could have cost us."

Instead, it set up Morneau for his third walk-off home run of the season.

"You just go up trying to have a good at bat, get a good pitch to hit and get on base," Morneau said. "Its a new game, whoever scores first once you get there. You just have to forget the other stuff. The only thing that matters is when you are out there right at that moment."

"We were kind of deflated," Twins outfielder Michael Cuddyer said. "Then Morneau put us on his shoulders again."

Ford led an offensive onslaught from the top half of Minnesota's batting order, as Mauer, Cuddyer, Morneau and Ford - the Twins' two through five hitters - combined to go 7-for-13 with seven RBI. Mauer tied his season high with three runs scored.

Corey Hart fueled the Brewers' comeback with two homers and three RBI and Hall added three hits. Hart's second homer brought Milwaukee within two runs in the eighth inning, leading to the ninth-inning theatrics.

"There was a lot of offense in that game, guys stayed after it," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "Minnesota's bullpen is very, very good. Our guys are just swinging the bats well."

Minnesota starter Kevin Slowey gave up a season-high three home runs and allowed four runs on eight hits and struck out four in 5 1/3 innings. He also walked four batters after issuing just two free passes in his previous three starts.

Suppan gave up a season-worst nine runs in just 4 2/3 innings - his shortest outing this year.

The Twins ended a two-game skid to win their fifth game in seven tries, breaking Milwaukee's four-game winning streak in the process. The Brewers have also won five of their last seven contests.

Hunter, who was diagnosed with a bruised left hand, said after the game that the initial swelling in his hand was caused by a popped blood vessel and that he expected to play on Monday in New York against the Mets.