Vázquez's walk-off blast ultimate reward for clubhouse favorite

MINNEAPOLIS -- Christian Vázquez knew he was in a spot to do something special on Sunday. Then he delivered.

Vázquez led off the ninth inning with a home run to break a tie and give the Twins a 3-2 walk-off victory over the Astros at Target Field.

Vázquez drove a low, full-count pitch over the left-field wall against Houston closer Josh Hader.

“I know he has one of the best fastballs in the league, in MLB -- one of the best closers in baseball,” Vázquez said of Hader. “So, you come with your best pitch 3-2. You don’t want to walk me there, the 9-hole hitter of the lineup. I knew it would be a fastball, so I can’t miss it.”

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Vázquez is a bit of an unlikely hero, at least if you’re looking for a well-timed longball. It was only his fourth home run this year, and the 65th of his 10-year MLB career. But three of them are walk-off homers -- the only walk-off hits of his career.

“I think it’s fun to hit in the ninth against the closer,” Vázquez said. “I get locked in there.”

As the ball cleared the left-field fence, it touched off a wild celebration both from the crowd of 28,056 in the stands and the Twins players, who poured out of the dugout and met Vázquez at home plate to pelt him with the usual array of ice cubes, bubble gum and sunflower seeds.

“I think everyone in our clubhouse, in our dugout, [was] totally fired up,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Monster moment for Vazsky. Hits a towering home run against one of the best closers in the game. Not an easy guy to go up there and square the ball up against.”

It was a moment to remember in a season to forget, at least offensively, for Vázquez. The 33-year-old catcher entered Sunday hitting just .196 with a .509 OPS. His batting average bottomed out at .156 after he went 0-for-4 at Washington on May 20. Since then, he’s 20-for-77 (.260) with three home runs and 10 RBIs in 22 games, totals much more in line with his career averages.

“The game is so hard, and you never can stop working, and I think that’s where I’m at right now,” Vázquez said. “I feel good. My swing feels very good. I can drive the ball to left-center with damage. I had a couple months of struggling, the first two, and I feel like right now is the old Vázquez everybody knows.”

He’s one of the most popular figures in the clubhouse, and his teammates will be the first to tell you what Vázquez brings to the table. Just ask Simeon Woods Richardson, who had a rough start to Sunday’s game, but finished up retiring the final 13 batters he faced, thanks in part to Vázquez.

“He helps tremendously. I think he builds confidence within myself,” Woods Richardson said. “He sees things I don’t see. Going to attack it and saying, ‘Hey, you got this. Just trust me a little bit and we’re going to be all right.’ You can get within your own head, and he kind of brings it out of you, saying, ‘Hey, we’re in a ballgame. Let’s go to work. Trust me. He gives a lot to this team.”

Sunday’s walk-off was the type of moment that makes a manager happy that he remained patient and stayed with a proven player going through an extended slump.

“He’s a very dedicated baseball player. And he is a baseball player. Inside his body, he’s not a guy who just plays baseball, he’s a baseball player,” Baldelli said. “He loves this stuff and he’s never going to stop working and trying to improve himself. He gives his entire life to this. It’s this and his family, and I don't know what else he’s into because he loves this so much.

“He put himself in a great spot today against an excellent pitcher. … He used that whole at-bat to kind of figure out how to get the barrel to the ball. And he figured it out.”