Twins Avoid Sweep in Tampa Bay
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Eduardo Escobar had three hits and three RBIs, Brian Dozier and Ehire Adrianza both homered, and the Minnesota Twins beat the Tampa Bay Rays 10-6 on Wednesday.
Minnesota ended a three-game skid streak and moved into a tie with the Los Angeles Angels for the second AL wild-card spot.
The Twins scored three runs in the seventh to take the lead for good. Dozier, who hit his 29th homer leading off the game, was walked by reliever Steve Cishek (2-1) to open the inning. Jorge Polanco then bunted and Cishek threw wildly past first base, allowing Dozier to come all the way around to score for a 7-6 lead with Polanco advancing to third.
One out later, Escobar singled to right-center to drive in Polanco. Robbie Grossman doubled off Austin Pruitt and pinch-hitter Joe Mauer was intentionally walked to load the bases, and Max Kepler followed with a run-scoring grounder.
Taylor Rogers (6-3) pitched 1 1/3 innings for the win.
Evan Longoria, Lucas Duda and Kevin Kiermaier homered for the Rays.