The Miami Marlins found themselves in the same position as they were in the previous game, down multiple runs in the bottom of the ninth facing a Minnesota Twins reliever that’s not the closer. Unlike on Wednesday, the Marlins emerged on top with a 5-4 walk-off win in 12 innings on Thursday to avoid the series sweep.

Former Marlins pitcher Sam Dyson, who was recently traded to Minnesota, entered the game in the ninth inning tasked to protect a 4-1 lead. He walked Curtis Granderson to lead off the inning. A single by Martin Prado put runners at the corners and a base hit by Jon Berti cut the lead to 4-2.

Brian Anderson, who hit a grand slam on Wednesday, walked to load up the bases for Neil Walker. Twins closer Taylor Rogers replaced Dyson but a ground ball by Walker barely went by the shortstop and scored two runs to tie the game at 4-4.

Similar to his previous appearance, Rogers ended the inning with three consecutive strikeouts. Marlins reliever Jeff Brigham got his first career win by throwing two perfect innings in the 11th and 12th with two strikeouts, keeping the game tied for Harold Ramirez to hit a walk-off home run in the bottom half of the 12th inning.

“I really just tried to get on base,” Ramirez said. “I didn’t try to do too much, because we needed somebody to get on base.”

The Marlins lost a one-run game on Tuesday, made it interesting at the end on Wednesday after a terrible start by their lone All-Star and won in extra innings by coming back in the ninth against a team that built itself into a playoff caliber squad with a young foundation and veteran producers. Miami could very well be where Minnesota currently is within the next few years.

“All I can say is, they’ve got a lot of good, young players,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “They remind me of Tampa. A team that up and down the lineup, they’ve got good players. They might not all be household names at this point. But when you’re trying to get them out, there’s a lot of good players there.

Going in the bottom of the ninth inning looking helpless against the Minnesota Twins, the Miami Marlins showed life late by loading the bases on three straight singles and all scored on a grand slam by Brian Anderson.

Three straight strikeouts ended the rally and the Twins secured a 7-4 win on Wednesday. The loss snapped a 10-game winning streak when Anderson hits a home run, one shy from the franchise record set by Jeff Conine in 2004 (May 24-Sept. 28) and Justin Bour in 2017 (May 23-Sept. 20)

Anderson now has a career high 16 home runs this season and is on pace to pass the 20 home run benchmark by the final game.

“That power, he showed it in the Minor Leagues,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “He’s a guy you felt like was going to get to it. I think he can get so much better still. I really do. He’s a guy, I think, who will improve with age as he gets a little older, and continues to gain more experience as his strength continues to come in. I just think this is where we’re headed with him.”

“That’s something that we’ve been working on, not trying to hit more homers or doubles, or anything like that,” Anderson said. “But just getting my body in a good position to where I can do some damage on mistakes. Other than that, it’s pretty much the same thing. I’m going through my routine every day, and trying to get in a good position to consistently get to where I can adjust and use my hands and try to drive some mistakes.”

It was night for home runs, especially for the Twins, who leads the majors with 209 home runs, 16 shy of the club record set in 1963.  Minnesota hit three home runs for the 32nd time this season, all of which came off Marlins All-Star starting pitcher, Sandy Alcantara.

“I think I’ve been feeling out of focus,” Alcantara said. “That’s one of the things I have to keep working on, get ahead of the count and work ahead of the batters.”

Alcantara has struggled since the All-Star Game,. He has a 7.89 ERA in four starts since the break and 17 walks in five outings this month. Prior to July, the 23-year-old earned the honor with a a 3.86 ERA.

“We always feel like he’s capable of hitting spots because you see it in the ‘pen,” Mattingly said. “You just haven’t seen it consistently in the field. It’s something that he obviously has to continue to work on and get better. Simple as that. Since the All-Star break, he hasn’t been that good.”

It’s now up to Jordan Yamamotto to avoid the sweep on Thursday. The rookie is coming off back-to-back starts of four innings and 5-6 earned runs against the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks.