The Minnesota Twins kicked off their home series with an electric walk-off home run by outfielder Harrison Bader, stunning the Tampa Bay Rays 4–3 in a Friday night thriller at Target Field. The ninth-inning blast—his fourth homer of the season—came on a 2-2 pitch from Rays reliever Jason Adam, who had just entered the game to close.

The game was tightly contested from the first pitch, with both teams trading leads in a chess match of pitching and defense. Twins starter Bailey Ober threw six strong innings, allowing just two earned runs while striking out seven. Tampa Bay countered with Zach Eflin, who delivered a solid five-inning outing but left with the score tied 2–2.

A solo home run from Randy Arozarena in the eighth briefly gave the Rays a 3–2 edge, silencing the home crowd—until the Twins responded with a game-tying RBI single from Carlos Correa in the bottom of the inning.

In the ninth, with the game on the line and two outs, Bader stepped up and launched a 423-foot rocket to left-center field, sending the home fans into a frenzy and the dugout into a celebratory sprint. “It felt good off the bat,” Bader said postgame. “This team fights all nine innings.”

The win improves Minnesota’s record to 49–36, keeping them near the top of the AL Central standings. They’ll look to carry that momentum into Saturday’s game, with Joe Ryan set to face Tampa’s Taj Bradley in Game 2 of the three-game series.