Thursday, 4 a.m.
For one at-bat, for three outs, they were a juggernaut. For one trip through the lineup, for one brief assault, they were a power.
For the Tampa Bay Rays, one at-bat was enough.
The Rays scored eight times, the most of any half-inning this season, to power their way to a 9-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins. In a three-out span, they sent 11 men to the plate, had five hits, one walk and took advantage of two errors by Minnesota. Over the other 21 outs of the night, the Rays had four hits and scored one run.
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Still, eight is plenty. The Rays got a two-run homer from Yandy Diaz and a two-run single from Tyler Walls in the inning.
Minnesota scored four times in the seventh on two home runs — a solo shot by Kyle Farmer and a two-run shot by Carlos Santana off Tyler Alexander. Hunter Bigge and Richard Lovelady shut out the Twins over the last 2 1/3 innings.
Diaz and Jose Caballero each had two hits.
The Rays and Twins play again today at 1:10 p.m. Taj Bradley will start for the Rays against Pablo Lopez.