BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (Interstat) — Ryan Kreidler’s solo home run in the seventh inning lifted the Minnesota Twins to a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies on a Sunday afternoon at Target Field, snapping a two-game series losing streak for the home side.

The Twins evened the three-game set at one win apiece after dropping the opener 8-5 on Saturday. Minnesota had won the series opener in 10 innings on Friday. The victory improved the Twins to 40-45 for the season, while the Rockies fell to 33-51.

A brisk game that lasted 2 hours, 23 minutes in front of an announced crowd of 20,277 saw each team scratch across runs early, then rely on their starting pitchers to keep the scoreboard quiet until the decisive blow in the late innings.

Colorado struck first in the top of the first inning. Willi Castro led off with a single to right field. Tyler Freeman was hit by a pitch, putting two on with nobody out. After a forceout at second base, TJ Rumfield singled to left-center field to score Castro, giving the Rockies a 1-0 lead. Cole Carrigg grounded into another forceout, and Kyle Karros was called out on strikes to end the inning.

The Rockies added a second run in the sixth inning, but the Twins had already answered in the second and fourth frames to keep the game tied.

Minnesota tied the game in the bottom of the second. Royce Lewis led off with a double to left field. Brooks Lee followed with a soft ground ball to third base that Karros fielded but threw wildly to first, allowing Lewis to score and Lee to reach safely. Lee was later stranded at third, but the Twins had leveled the score at 1-1.

In the bottom of the fourth, Kody Clemens led off with a solo home run to right field, his 13th of the season, knotting the game again at 2-2. The homer was Clemens’ only hit of the afternoon in four at-bats.

The game remained deadlocked until the bottom of the seventh. With one out, Kreidler, the Twins shortstop, launched a 1-0 pitch from Colorado reliever Seth Halvorsen over the center-field wall for his fifth home run of the season, putting Minnesota ahead 3-2. Halvorsen, making his major league debut, was charged with the loss, his first of the season against no wins.

Halvorsen had entered the game in relief of starter Ryan Feltner, who turned in a strong outing. Feltner pitched six innings, allowing one earned run on five hits while striking out three. He left with the game tied and no decision.

Minnesota starter Connor Prielipp was the star of the game for the Twins. The left-hander worked six innings, giving up two earned runs on six hits while striking out 10. Prielipp, who entered the game with a 3-2 record, did not factor in the decision after allowing a run in the sixth inning that briefly gave Colorado a 2-1 lead.

That run came in the top of the sixth. After a one-out single by Rumfield, Carrigg sacrificed him to second. Karros struck out, but Troy Johnston singled sharply to right field, scoring Rumfield and putting the Rockies ahead 2-1. Prielipp then struck out Braxton Fulford to end the inning.

Minnesota’s bullpen took over from there. Andrew Morris earned the win, pitching 1 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out two while allowing no hits. He improved to 4-2 on the season. Anthony Banda followed with two-thirds of an inning, allowing one hit and striking out two. Yoendrys Gómez closed the door with a perfect ninth inning, striking out one to earn his eighth save of the season.

Colorado’s bullpen also performed well in relief. Brennan Bernardino retired the only batter he faced in the seventh, and Juan Mejia pitched a scoreless eighth inning with one strikeout.

Carrigg was the only Rockies batter with multiple hits, going 2 for 3 with a double and a sacrifice bunt. Castro finished 1 for 5 with a run scored, and Johnston drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth. For the Twins, Lewis doubled and scored, Lee had two singles, and Kreidler’s homer was his only hit.

The Rockies had seven hits in the game, while the Twins had eight.

The series concludes Monday afternoon at Target Field before both teams travel for road series against Miami and Houston, respectively.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Minnesota Twins 6, Colorado Rockies 4. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Minnesota with a 63.90 percent probability to win. Minnesota had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 5 went over the over/under line of 9.