 gave up three hits and struck out nine in winning his eighth straight decision. The right-hander, who departed with a 7-0 lead, has not allowed a run in six of his last seven starts.Minnesota rebounded from a 14-3 loss Thursday night to take the final three games of the series, running baseball's best record to 40-18.The Rays used a five-run seventh to get within two.Kevin Kiermaier had a run-scoring infield hit and Austin Meadows drove in a pair with a single off Matt Magill.Brandon Lowe picked up another a run-scoring infield single against Ryne Harper, with a second run scoring on second baseman Jonathan Schoop's throwing error.Blake Parker replaced Harper, who faced one batter, and struck out Willy Adames looking on a 3-2 pitch with two runners on.After Schoop hit a two-run homer in the eighth, Christian Arroyo had a two-run shot during the bottom half off Parker to make it 9-7.Taylor Rogers struck out the side for his fifth save.C. J. Cron had a three-run double during a four-run fifth off Ryan Yarbrough (4-2), helping the Twins open a 7-0 lead.Minnesota extended its franchise single-season record of scoring three-or-more runs to 26 consecutive games.Yarbrough gave up seven runs and 10 hits over seven innings as Tampa Bay used a traditional starter for the second consecutive game instead of an opener due in part to a taxed bullpen.GETTING CLOSETwins: DH Nelson Cruz (strained left wrist) went 1 for 3 in his second game with Class A Fort Myers and could be back Tuesday.Rays: OFs Tommy Pham (right calf cramp) and Avisail Garcia (hamstring) were both out of the lineup for the third straight game but will likely start Tuesday.TRAINER'S ROOMTwins: C Mitch Garver (high left ankle strain) was reinstated from the 10-day injured list and had an RBI singleRays: INF Yandy Diaz (bruised left hand) returned from the 10-day IL. ... Reliever Jose Alvarado went on the family emergency leave list.UP NEXTTwins: LHP Devin Smeltzer (0-0), coming off six scoreless innings in his major league debut Tuesday against Milwaukee, goes against Indians RHP Shane Bieber (4-2) Tuesday night.Rays: LHP Blake Snell (3-4) and Detroit LHP Ryan Carpenter (0-2) are Tuesday night's scheduled starters.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Twins send out Odorizzi to get series win vs. RaysFLMThe Minnesota Twins picked up in June where they left off following a memorable and record-setting May.The Twins, who went 21-8 in May while hitting a franchise record 56 home runs, will be going for their 12th series victory of the season on Sunday afternoon against Tampa Bay after winning their second straight game against the Rays on Saturday in St. Petersburg, Fla.Ex-Ray Jake Odorizzi (7-2, 2.16 ERA) will start for the Twins, who bounced back from an ugly 14-3 loss to the Rays in Thursday night's series opener to win 5-3 on Friday night and 6-2 on Saturday afternoon.The right-handed Odorizzi has a no-decision with a 10.38 ERA in one career start against the Rays. He'll be opposed by right-hander Ryan Yarbrough (4-1, 5.53), who has allowed four runs in 5 1/3 career innings against the Twins.Odorizzi comes in a roll, winning seven of his last eight starts, including a 7-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox on May 26 when he allowed one hit over 5 1/3 innings. It also was the fifth time in his last six starts that he didn't allow a run.Marwin Gonzalez and Byron Buxton each homered in Saturday's victory to increase Minnesota's major league-leading home run total to 108."Their offense is leading the American League, if not all of baseball, in a lot of categories," Rays manager Kevin Cash said."There's a reason why. They're balanced. They've got plenty of power. ... What they're doing, hitting the ball out of the ballpark at the rate they are and not striking out shows that they have some real quality hitters." Kyle Gibson gave up only an unearned run over five innings while allowing six hits in Saturday's win. Four Minnesota relievers combined to hold the Rays to just a Christian Arroyo solo homer and three hits over the final four innings.Tampa Bay, which scored a season-high 14 runs and tied its season-high with 16 hits in the series opener, has managed just five runs and 13 hits in the two games since."Gibson's tough," Cash said. "They all pitched well. We just didn't have much going our way today for whatever reason. Sometimes in losses you can't pinpoint what it is, but it didn't go our way, and it just seemed to drag out and drag out and ended up being a four-hour loss." Buxton has bounced back from an injury-plagued 2018 campaign in which he hit just .156 with no home runs and four RBIs in 28 games. He is batting .262 with six homers, 19 doubles and 31 RBIs in 54 games this season."It's just us coming out here and playing our game and having a lot of fun," Buxton said."We know we've got a great team and we've got great chemistry together, which allows us to come out here and do what we do. ... We take it one pitch at a time, one game at a time, and we control what we can control, and that allows us to do what we do and take care of business." --Field Level Media
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