Meadows had two hits and two RBI in the loss./JEFFREY S. KING
Monday, 4 a.m.
The Minnesota Twins might be the best team in baseball. Certainly, the Tampa Bay Rays hope so, because they are definitely lagging behind.
For the third straight day, the Twins humbled the Rays, this time in a 9-7 victory that was highlighted by former Rays. Over the last three games of the four-game series, the Twins scored 21 times to win three straight. Minnesota is now 40-18. under first-year manager Rocco Baldelli.
It was the first time this season the Rays lost while scoring seven runs or more.
Arroyo hit his second homer in two days./JEFFREY S. KING
Ryan Yarbrough gave up seven runs as the Rays fell behind 7-0 before making things interesting.
“He fell behind a couple guys," said Rays' manager Kevin Cash. "We know they can hit. They hit some pretty good pitches. Had a couple hit-by-pitches that were uncharacteristic, kind of wrong timing. We didn’t make a play behind him and it seemed like the inning just kind of unfolded and got out of hand there quickly. Got
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Yarbrough had a tough outing for Rays./JEFFREY S. KING
to find a way to step up to the mound and make a big pitch. Keep us in the ballgame. It was just a tough day for him.”
Cash gave credit to the Minnesota offense.
"There’s not a break in there, I can tell you that," Cash said. "They’ve just got a good balance in there one through nine. It seems like a lot of them are seeing the ball pretty well right now when they came in here. They can challenge any pitching staff – good pitching, bad pitching, whatever. They certainly are seeing the ball pretty well.”
Yarbrough admitted he struggled.
“It was kind of a grind today," he said. "They are a really good hitting team. I don’t know if necessarily pitch count was anything crazy because I was still able to go seven strong (innings) – really tried to help the bullpen at that point. They are a
Choi had a double for Rays./JEFFREY S. KING
good hitting team and they were just getting enough of pitches on certain ones where I just wasn’t getting it in enough on cutters or leaving some changeups over the plate. They are a big league ball club and they are going to make you pay for it.
“I don’t think anybody is happy about how the last couple days went, but at the same time, we realize the team we have here and I don’t think anybody’s confidence has wavered at all or what we are going to do or potentially do down the stretch. It’s just a matter of really taking into account what we did well, what we didn’t and what we can work on and after the off day, getting back at it.”
The Twins were led by ex-Ray Jake Odorizzi, who gave up only three hits in six innings and struck out nine. He is now 8-2 on the season.
“Jake was great again and he made good pitches," said Twins manager Baldelli. "Truthfully, the opposition dialed him and had good at bats and he just continued to
Byron Buxton makes a catch to start a double play./JEFFREY S. KING
do his job and execute and do everything that he set out there to do. Against good teams it’s never easy, but he went out there and truly did his job. Not only that, but he got pretty deep in the game and covered an extra inning or two for us on top of everything else. It was just another phenomenal effort.”
After a bases loaded double by ex-Ray C.J. Cron, the Twins led 7-0. The Rays closed it to 7-5. After falling behind 9-5, they scored two more to keep it close.
The Rays are off today, then travel to Detroit to play the Tigers. Blake Snell pitches for the Rays against Ryan Carpenter. The first pitch is at 7:10 p.m.
Adames makes a throw for Rays./JEFFREY S. KING
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