Twins rally past Rays
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Minnesota Twins got a go-ahead pinch-hit home run from Eddie Rosario in the seventh inning on the way to a 6-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night at Tropicana Field.
Rosario is 2-for-2 this season as a pinch-hitter with a pair of two-run homers. This one came off Rays reliever Erasmo Ramirez, who had seen the Rays take a 2-1 lead in the sixth on a solo home run by red-hot shortstop Brad Miller.
Ramirez gave up another home run -- a solo shot to Miguel Sano in the eighth -- to spoil another strong outing from rookie Blake Snell, who lowered his ERA to 2.95.
Twins starter Ervin Santana (5-9) has won back-to-back starts after getting two wins in his previous 13 turns. He gave up three hits in the first five batters and three hits the rest of the way, striking out eight batters in 6 1/3 innings.
Ramirez (7-9) had allowed only one home run in his previous 13 appearances, and after a 6-1 start to the season has lost eight of nine decisions.
Ramirez's two home runs were enough damage, but reliever Ryan Garton gave up two more runs in the ninth, with a fielding error, single and sacrifice before Joe Mauer hit a two-run double to left for a 6-2 lead.
Minnesota (44-65) has won four of five games and seven of its last nine, while the Rays (44-64) had won six of their previous eight.
For five innings, the two teams with the worst record in the American League were deadlocked in a pitcher's duel, with Santana and Snell each allowing a run.
The Rays struck early, with three hits in their first five at-bats. Logan Forsythe singled, advanced on a two-out single by Miller and scored on an RBI single by Nick Franklin for a 1-0 lead in the first. Tampa Bay, however, would not get another hit until Tim Beckham's double in the fifth inning, with Santana retiring 10 batters in a row.
The Twins tied the game in the third, as Snell gave up a single to Jorge Polanco, then an RBI triple off the wall in right-center to Brian Dozier, who extended his hitting streak to a career-high 14 games. Snell had runners at first and third with one out, but struck out Max Kepler and Sano to end the inning with the game tied.
The Rays had even more of an opportunity in the fifth. Steven Souza was hit by a pitch and then Beckham doubled, putting two runners in scoring position with no outs. Santana took over, however, striking out the side to strand both runners and again keep the game tied.
Santana had eight strikeouts and no walks in the first five innings, while Snell left after 5 1/3 innings with seven strikeouts against only two walks.
NOTES: Continuing to tweak the roster since the All-Star break, the Rays claimed C Bobby Wilson off waivers from the Rangers and optioned C Curt Casali to Triple-A Durham. Casali, who hit .238 with 10 home runs in 101 at-bats last year for the Rays, wasn't the same hitter this season, batting .168 with seven home runs in 185 at-bats. Wilson, 33, spent part of 2015 with the Rays, hitting just .145, but has batted .241 this season with the Tigers and Rangers with 24 RBIs in 156 at-bats. After opening the season with Casali and Hank Conger as their catchers, the Rays now have Luke Maile and Wilson. ... Twins 1B Joe Mauer has the best career batting average (.363) and on-base percentage (.455 entering Friday) of any player against the Rays. He has reached base safely in 20 straight games against the Rays either by hit or walk.