TORONTO (AP) — Mickey Gasper hit a game-tying home run in the ninth inning, Matt Wallner added a go-ahead homer and the Minnesota Twins rallied to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-5 on Tuesday night.
Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman came on in the ninth with Toronto leading 4-3, but Gasper greeted him with a game-tying homer, the first of his career.
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Minnesota Twins pitcher Bailey Ober works against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Ernie Clement (top) tags out Minnesota Twins' Matt Wallner (38) at third base during eighth inning MLB baseball action in Toronto on Tuesday, August 26, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Blue Jays' George Springer hits a solo home run against the Minnesota Twins during the second inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Blue Jays' George Springer (4) celebrates in the dugout after hitting a solo home run against the Minnesota Twins during fifth inning MLB baseball action in Toronto, on Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press via AP)
Minnesota Twins' Mickey Gasper, right, celebrates his solo home run against the Toronto Blue Jays with Austin Martin (16) during the ninth inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Four batters later, Wallner gave the Twins the lead with a two-run homer, his 20th. Wallner homered twice in Monday’s 10-4 loss.
The Twins snapped a three-game losing streak and won for the third time in 12 games.
The blown save was Hoffman’s seventh in 35 chances. Hoffman has allowed 12 home runs.
Hoffman (8-5) left to boos from the crowd of 42,235 after walking Edouard Julien. The right-hander retired two of the seven batters he faced.
Minnesota’s Michael Tonkin (2-0) got two outs for the win and Justin Topa pitched around Daulton Varsho's pinch-hit RBI double in the ninth to earn his fourth save in six chances.
George Springer went 4 for 5 with two home runs, but it wasn’t enough for the AL East-leading Blue Jays. Springer hit a 433-foot drive in the second, then added a 445-foot blast in the fifth. The homers were his 23rd and 24th. It was Springer’s fourth multi-homer game this season and the 28th of his career.
Luke Keaschall hit a two-run home run for Minnesota, his third.
Wallner connected on the first pitch he saw from Hoffman, a 96 mph fastball.
The Twins have homered in 22 consecutive games at Rogers Centre, dating to 2017. It’s Minnesota’s longest home run streak at any road stadium. The Twins homered in 21 straight games at Kansas City between 1998 and 2001.
Blue Jays LHP Eric Lauer (8-2, 2.76 ERA) is expected to start Wednesday. The Twins have not named a starter.
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Minnesota Twins pitcher Bailey Ober works against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Ernie Clement (top) tags out Minnesota Twins' Matt Wallner (38) at third base during eighth inning MLB baseball action in Toronto on Tuesday, August 26, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Blue Jays' George Springer hits a solo home run against the Minnesota Twins during the second inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Blue Jays' George Springer (4) celebrates in the dugout after hitting a solo home run against the Minnesota Twins during fifth inning MLB baseball action in Toronto, on Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press via AP)
Minnesota Twins' Mickey Gasper, right, celebrates his solo home run against the Toronto Blue Jays with Austin Martin (16) during the ninth inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A state appeals court will decide whether to dismiss felony voter misconduct charges against an Alaska resident born in American Samoa, one of numerous cases that has put a spotlight on the complex citizenship status of people born in the U.S. territory.
The Alaska Court of Appeals heard arguments Thursday in the case against Tupe Smith, who was arrested after winning election to a regional school board in 2023. Smith has said she relied on erroneous information from local election officials in the community of Whittier when she identified herself as a U.S. citizen on voter registration forms.
American Samoa is the only U.S. territory where residents are not automatically granted citizenship by being born on American soil and instead are considered U.S. nationals. Paths to citizenship exist, such as naturalization, though that process can be expensive and cumbersome.
American Samoans can serve in the military, obtain U.S. passports and vote in elections in American Samoa, but they cannot hold public office in the U.S. or participate in most U.S. elections.
Smith's attorneys have asked the appeals court to reverse a lower court's decision that let stand the indictment brought against her. Smith's supporters say she made an innocent mistake that does not merit charges, but the state has argued that Smith falsely and deliberately claimed citizenship.
State prosecutors separately have brought charges against 10 other people from American Samoa in Whittier, including Smith’s husband, Michael Pese.
Thursday's arguments centered on the meaning of the word intentionally.
Smith “and others like her who get caught up in Alaska’s confusing election administration system and do not have any intent to mislead or deceive should not face felony voter misconduct charges,” one of her attorneys, Whitney Brown, told the court.
But Kayla Doyle, an assistant attorney general, said that as part of ensuring election integrity, it's important that oaths being relied upon are accurate.
About 25 people gathered on a snowy street outside the Anchorage courthouse before Thursday’s hearing to support Smith. Some carried signs that read, ”We support Samoans.”
State Sen. Forrest Dunbar, a Democrat who attended the rally, said the Alaska Department of Law has limited resources.
“We should be going after people who are genuine criminals, who are violent criminals, or at least have the intent to deceive,” he said.
In a court filing in 2024, one of Smith's previous attorneys said that when Smith answered questions from the Alaska state trooper who arrested her, she said she was aware that she could not vote in presidential elections but was “unaware of any other restrictions on her ability to vote."
Smith said she marks herself as a U.S. national on paperwork. But when there was no such option on voter registration forms, she was told by city representatives that it was appropriate to mark U.S. citizen, according to the filing.
Smith “exercised what she believed was her right to vote in a local election. She did so without any intent to mislead or deceive anyone,” her current attorneys said in a filing in September. “Her belief that U.S. nationals may vote in local elections, which was supported by advice from City of Whittier election officials, was simply mistaken.”
The state has said Smith falsely and deliberately claimed citizenship. Prosecutors pointed to the language on the voter application forms she filled out in 2020 and 2022, which explicitly said that if the applicant was not at least 18 years old and a U.S. citizen, “do not complete this form, as you are not eligible to vote.”
The counts Smith was indicted on “did not have anything to do with her belief in her ability to vote in certain elections; rather they concerned the straightforward question of whether or not Smith intentionally and falsely swore she was a United States citizen,” Doyle said in a court filing last year.
One of Smith's attorneys, Neil Weare, co-founder of the Washington-based Right to Democracy Project, has said the appeals court could dismiss the case or send it back to the lower court “to consider whether the state can meet the standard it has set forth for voter misconduct.” The state also could decide to file other charges if the case is dismissed, he said.
The court did not give a timeline for when it would issue a ruling.
Bohrer reported from Juneau, Alaska.
State Sen. Forrest Dunbar, left, stands with supporters of Tupe Smith gathered Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, outside the Boney Courthouse in Anchorage, Alaska, ahead of the Alaska Court of Appeals hearing a challenge to the voter misconduct case brought against American Samoa native Tupe Smith by the state. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
Supporters of Tupe Smith gather outside the Boney Courthouse in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, ahead of the Alaska Court of Appeals hearing a challenge to the voter misconduct case brought against American Samoa native Tupe Smith by the state. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
Michael Pese and his wife, Tupe Smith, stand outside the Boney Courthouse in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, ahead of the Alaska Court of Appeals hearing a challenge to the voter fraud case brought against her by the state. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
Michael Pese, left, his wife, Tupe Smith, and their son Maximus pose for a photo outside the Boney Courthouse in Anchorage, Alaska, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, ahead of the Alaska Court of Appeals hearing a challenge to the voter fraud case brought against her by the state. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
FILE - Tupe Smith poses for a photo outside the school in Whittier, Alaska, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)
