DaShawn Keirsey Jr. homered and sparked a ninth-inning rally with a leadoff single, and the Twins pulled off one of their unlikeliest victories of the season on Monday, 5-4 over the Red Sox at Target Field.

Brooks Lee lofted a looping line drive down the left-field line in the rain-delayed bottom of the ninth inning, scoring Mickey Gasper and Willi Castro with the walk-off runs before a crowd of only a few dozen fans remaining from the 24,443 who paid to see it.

If Monday was the first day of Spoiler Season for the Twins — they’ll play 41 of their final 57 games against teams that currently occupy a playoff spot or are within four games of one — they demonstrated the ability to break a few hearts over the season’s final two months.

Their own, it seemed for much of the night. But after waiting out a 90-minute thunderstorm delay, they needed only 10 minutes to undo what came before and send the Red Sox to a painful defeat.

Keirsey’s single, which gave him his first two-hit night of his career, got things rolling against Boston reliever Jordan Hicks, who then hit Gasper and Castro with pitches to load the bases. Carlos Correa grounded into a force play at home, but Lee, on an 0-2 count, hit the third walkoff hit of the season, and of his career.

That hit turned around what felt like a devastating loss after Jhoan Duran allowed the tie-breaking run just before the rain hit. Duran walk Abraham Toro, and pinch-runner David Hamilton stole second and third bases. Moments later, Roman Anthony singled Hamilton home, making the Twins’ third straight loss seem inevitable.

It was a competitive game, one that forced the Red Sox to utilize much of their bullpen to quell occasional Twins’ threats, and one that surely revived the players’ oft-stated confidence that another long winning streak into contention is still possible.

But the Twins put runners on base in seven of the nine innings, though their 1-for-7 success rate with runners in scoring position fit their unfortunate season-long pattern.

The Twins’ only two runs off Red Sox starter Richard Fitts, a rookie righthander who had allowed 22 runs and nine homers in his first nine starts, came courtesy of the bottom of their order. Christian Vázquez walked to open the third inning, and Keirsey Jr., filling in for the injured Byron Buxton, cracked his first home run of the season and second of his career, knocking a slider into the flower pots atop the left field fence.

The Twins managed another run, mostly courtesy of a familiar face — reliever Jorge Alcalá, who has revived his career with the Red Sox after being traded to Boston in June. Alcalá entered the game after Royce Lewis lined a one-out single in the sixth, and he quickly reminded the Twins why they parted ways. Alcala walked Harrison Bader, but a wild pitch and a passed ball as he did so moved Lewis to third. Another walk, this to Ty France, loaded the bases, and Vázquez lifted a sacrifice fly to center field, tying the game.

Simeon Woods Richardson, facing the Red Sox for the first time in his career, gave up four hits and a walk through his first four innings but was masterful in stranding those runners, holding Boston to 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position.

But Woods Richardson couldn’t keep it going for another inning, allowing the first two hitters to reach base before giving up all-star Alex Bregman’s 418-foot home run into the bullpens to put Boston in front. Jarren Duran followed with a double, but with a likely bullpen game looming on Tuesday, Baldelli stuck with the righthander. He was rewarded when Woods Richardson struck out Trevor Story and got Masataka Yoshida to ground out.

With his pitch count at 99, Woods Richardson was removed for Justin Topa, who retired Carlos Narváez for the final out of the inning.

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