MINNEAPOLIS -- An avid duck hunter, Twins second baseman Brian Dozier was pretty excited about the duck decoys he received Friday for his 28th birthday.
Minnesota's birthday boy also gave himself -- and the Twins -- a few nice gifts on the field.
Dozier hit his fifth home run of the year Friday against Tampa Bay to tie the game in the third inning and later delivered a go-ahead sacrifice fly that proved to be the game-winner as Minnesota topped the Rays by a 3-2 final on Dozier's birthday.
"I'll tell you what, no matter what it was, as long as we get the 'W,' that's all that really matters," Dozier said of his birthday blast. "You don't really think about it. It just came in a situation that tied the ballgame back up."
Coming into Friday's game, Dozier had some previous success on his birthday in the majors. He was 4 for 7 with a double and a RBI on previous games played on May 15, including going 3 for 4 with a double against Cleveland back in 2012 and grabbing a RBI on his birthday last year in a 4-3 win over Boston.
None of those birthday celebrations were quite like the one he had at Target Field against the Rays.
After Minnesota fell behind 1-0 in the second on a solo homer by David DeJesus, Dozier answered with a solo shot of his own to lead off the third inning. Dozier turned on a 2-1 offering from Rays starter Jake Odorizzi and sent it 392 feet to left field. It was a 90 mph four-seam fastball that Odorizzi left up, right in Dozier's sweet spot.
"Especially guys that aren't very overpowering or don't have the 97, 98. He was 88, 91 pretty much the whole night, 92 every now and then," Dozier said. "Going into the game, the last three games I don't think he's had a walk, so he pumps the zone. . . . We only had (eight) hits against him, but a lot of hard outs, a lot of good swings, so that's always good. We saw him pretty well."
Tampa Bay retook a 2-1 lead in the fifth on a ball that landed in front of left fielder Eduardo Escobar, and the Twins squandered a chance to tie it in the sixth inning after getting the first two batters on base. Dozier would eventually get one more chance to be the hero on his birthday the following inning, and he delivered.
Aaron Hicks led off the seventh with a single to left and shortstop Danny Santana drove him in to tie the game with a standup triple to the right field corner. That brought Dozier to the plate with the go-ahead run 90 feet from home plate and nobody out in the inning.
It wasn't a hit, but Dozier's sacrifice fly to center field was enough to bring home the go-ahead run. After the Twins struggled to take advantage of similar opportunities during their recent road trip, it was refreshing for Minnesota to come through in that situation.
"That last at-bat was big," Twins manager Paul Molitor said of Dozier. "We've had a little brief period here of not cashing guys in from third base with less than two outs. He took that first pitch, it was kind of a borderline strike; it was probably a good take. Then he was able to stay on that ball and line it to center."
Like several of Minnesota's hitters, Dozier's 2015 season got off to a slow start. He was batting just .220 as the calendar turned from April to May. Since that point, though, Dozier has hit .316 (18-for-57) with three homers and eight RBI in 14 games in May. Friday's home run extended Dozier's current hitting streak to seven games, and he's now reached base safely in 12 straight games, dating back to May 2.
As excited as Dozier was about his birthday gift of duck decoys, he was also happy to take advantage with a duck on the pond in Friday's win.
"I'm sure he would have rather got a hit, but we got the run we needed," Molitor said. "He's been swinging the bat well."
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