Forsythe singled to lead off the game, and with two outs, he scored on Miller’s RBI single off Dozier’s glove at second.Evan Longoria hit a solo homer – his team-best 24th – in the third inning and Wilson, in his first game with the Rays this season, hit his fourth homer overall this season in the fifth.NOTES: The Rays made a roster move before Saturday’s game, placing OF Desmond Jennings on the disabled list with a left knee contusion suffered when he fouled a ball off the knee in Tuesday’s game.
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Trailing 2-1 in the seventh, Twins manager Paul Molitor wasn’t sure how many chances he’d have for a favorable bat off his bench, so he sent Eddie Rosario out with a runner on.
Sano got his 16th homer off Ramirez (7-9) in the eighth.
Kyle Gibson (4-6) gave up two runs, six hits and walked four over five innings to get his first win over Tampa Bay after four losses. Their bats, meanwhile, came through with four hits with runners in scoring position, allowing them to break open a game that was a pitcher’s duel entering the seventh inning.
Andriese (6-3) allowed three runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings.
Brian Dozier drove in the game’s first run with a third-inning triple. Only Carlos Gonzalez and Ender Inciarte, at 17 games each, have longer hit streaks in baseball.
A win would have pulled Minnesota a half-game ahead of Tampa Bay 2 1/2 months after the Twins’ dismal 11-34 start.
If Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Chris Archer needs some kind of spark to get out of the long, hard slump that has been his 2016 season, perhaps the Minnesota Twins will do the trick.
As for the Rays, they’re 4-1 in their last five game threes of a series, and 2-5 in their last seven Sunday games.
“I don’t think they have kept me in the lineup to do me any sort of favors”, Miller said.
NATIONALS 5, GIANTS 1: Gio Gonzalez pitched seven innings of two-hit ball, Trea Turner and Wilson Ramos homered and the Washington Nationals beat the San Francisco Giants 5-1 on Friday night in a matchup of first-place teams. “We let the game get away, left too many pitches up in the zone that those guys can handle and the ball left the ballpark”.
Rays: SS Matt Duffy (strained left Achilles’ tendon) plans to make his Tampa Bay debut Friday night at the New York Yankees.
Chris Archer had one of those days that have been rare for him this season – nearly everything went his way.
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The Twins host Houston tonight to kick off a seven-game homestand. He could be activated as early as Monday. He won Monday at Cleveland. Matt scattered six hits, five strikeouts and a walk over that time, with his one errant fastball to Sano responsible for his three earned runs. And just as the Twins have been good for Archer in the past, the Rays could benefit from facing a young, unproven arm in Minnesota starter Jose Berrios, who is carrying an 8.57 ERA with a 2-1 record.
