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

V¨¢zquez 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.

V¨¢zquez 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,¡± V¨¢zquez 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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V¨¢zquez 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,¡± V¨¢zquez 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 V¨¢zquez 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 V¨¢zquez. 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,¡± V¨¢zquez 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 V¨¢zquez everybody knows.¡±

He¡¯s one of the most popular figures in the clubhouse, and his teammates will be the first to tell you what V¨¢zquez 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 V¨¢zquez.

¡°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.¡±