Rays drop a close one to snap six game win streak
The Tampa Bay Rays and Minnesota Twins faced off on Tuesday night in game two of this three game set and played a close, entertaining game. The Twins eventually emerged with the win behind a strong Joe Ryan start and some timely hitting.
The Rays got a strong start from Taj Bradley and had their chances in this one, but fell just short, unable to deliver hits with RISP early in the game. The Twins won by a score of 4-2 and improved their record to 30-24, while the loss dropped the Rays back to the .500 mark at 27-27.
First inning scoring has plagued Bradley all year and again he surrendered an early lead to the Twins in the top of the first. Larnach doubled to lead off the game and later scored on a 1-out sacrifice fly off the bat of Brooks Lee. The Twins’ early 1-0 lead snapped a streak of 44 straight innings where the Rays did not trail.
The Rays tried to quickly respond in the bottom half of the inning as Josh Lowe and Brandon Lowe hit back to back singles. With runners on the corners Junior Caminero grounded into his league-leading 16th double play of the year to end the threat.
Clemens jumped on a pitch to start the second inning and launched a solo shot to left center to double the Twins lead. Trailing 2-0, Bradley responded quickly and retired the next three in order.
The Rays again tried to respond and following a leadoff double by Aranda and sac-bunt by Simpson, the Rays again had a runner just 90 feet scoring. Caballero was unable to put the ball in play and struck out. Misner walked to bring up a struggling Rortvedt and the Rays quickly attempted a double steal of second and home. Carlos Correa was not to be fooled and quickly cut off the throw down to second and cut down Aranda at the plate to end the inning.
Bradley settled into a groove after the Clemens homer and retired ten consecutive hitters. In the fourth, the Rays cut the deficit in half as Aranda drove home Brandon Lowe on a RBI-single.
The Twins answered in the sixth with a run of their own, albeit an unearned run for Bradley. Ryan Jeffers scored on what should have been an inning-ending double play, but the feed from Brandon Lowe to Caballero at second sailed, allowing the run to score. The Twins took a 3-1 lead.
Bradley did end up workin the seventh as well and out together a solid line on the night. The righty tossed seven innings and allowed three runs, only two of which were earned. He allowed five hits, struck out six, and walked just one. He took the loss and his record on the season moved to 4-4.
Despite working around a good bit of early traffic, Joe Ryan also pout together a solid line. the former Rays prospect threw six innings, allowing just one run on five hits. He struck out five and walked one. He earned the win, his fifth of the year.
The Rays only other run came in the seventh and was almost entirely generated by Jose Caballero who singled and then stole second and third base on back to back pitches. Misner was able to get a ball on the ground to first and Caballero scored to bring the cut the lead to 3-2.
But, as seemed to be the case all night the Twins had an answer the following inning. Following a Correa one-out double off Manuel Rodriguez, Ty France singled home the Twins shortstop and extended the lead to 4-2.
That score would hold as Jhoan Duran picked up the save, his ninth of the year.
At the plate Diaz, Caminero, and Simpson combined to go 0-11. Diaz appeared out of sorts striking out three times.
The Rays will look to bounce back tomorrow afternoon and will send Drew Rasmussen to the mound opposite Pablo López. The game starts at 1:10 ET and with a win the Rays would secure their third consecutive series win.