Bryan De La Cruz delivered the swing that finished off Minnesota, and the Phillies kept right on rolling.
Philadelphia erased a five-run deficit Sunday in Minneapolis, then rode De La Cruz’s two-run single in the eighth inning to a 7-5 win over the Twins and a sweep of the three-game series. The comeback capped a day that started with the Phillies in a deep hole and ended with them taking their fifth win in seven games.
Alec Bohm was central to the rally. He drove in three with a home run during a four-run sixth inning, then came back with a bloop RBI single in the eighth to tie the game at 5-all before De La Cruz put Philadelphia ahead for good with a grounder that slipped between first baseman Royce Lewis and the bag.
Minnesota had built its cushion early behind Brooks Lee and Kody Clemens. Lee launched a grand slam, and Clemens added a homer to push the Twins in front 5-0. But the offense never held up long enough to survive Philadelphia’s push.
The Twins got the game started with a burst in the first inning against Andrew Painter. After two outs with the bases empty, Painter allowed two singles and a walk, then Lee cleared the bases with a grand slam to right field.
He had just pulled a potential grand slam foul one pitch earlier. Clemens added his home run in the third to make it 5-0.
Philadelphia chipped away in the sixth, and the eighth turned the game completely. Andrew Morris entered with the lead but gave up all three Phillies runs in the inning. Before Sunday, he had allowed only two earned runs in 28 1/3 innings over his previous 27 appearances since June 12.
Orion Kerkering handled the seventh with a 1-2-3 inning and got the win to improve to 7-1. Jhoan Duran finished it off with a scoreless ninth for his 26th save.
The sweep followed Philadelphia’s 7-1 and 9-1 wins in the first two games of the series. Trea Turner was available Sunday, but he did not play after leaving Saturday’s game when he fouled a ball off his right knee.
Minnesota fell to 4-10 in August.
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