MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Gio Urshela went right back to work after his wife delivered their new daughter and gave the Minnesota Twins a critical comeback victory with the first game-ending home run of his career.
The injury-depleted Twins badly needed the jolt.
Urshela’s two-run homer in the 10th inning drove in Jose Miranda, who had three RBIs as Minnesota beat the Detroit Tigers 5-3 on Monday night and maintained its one-game lead in the AL Central.
“We’ve got a good lineup. We all trust each other, so I kind of knew something was going to happen soon,” said Miranda, who hit a tying, two-run single in the eighth and drove in the automatic runner with his single in the 10th.
Urshela finished it with his high drive onto the grass berm beyond center field off Alex Lange (4-2). That kept the Twins alone in first place, just ahead of Cleveland after the Guardians beat Arizona in 11 innings.
“A lot of emotions,” said Urshela, who was on the paternity list for three days while his wife, Danna, gave birth to a healthy girl, Gianna. “Baby and walk-off and winning. It’s good for the team.”
The home-plate jump greetings and water dousing of Urshela came long after Tigers ace Tarik Skubal was pulled following five scoreless innings after complaining of left arm fatigue. He gave up three hits and two walks with eight strikeouts over 77 pitches, his third-fewest of the season, in what could have been his final start with the out-of-contention team with the trade deadline looming on Tuesday.
“I didn’t want to put myself at risk of something serious happening,” Skubal said.
Detroit manager A.J. Hinch was happy Skubal spoke up.
“We want guys to communicate openly. This is not a question of his resolve or his toughness,” Hinch said. “This…