MINNEAPOLIS — Jonny DeLuca's line-drive single to center field in the 10th inning and a mammoth throw from center fielder Jose Siri allowed Tampa Bay to overcome a blown four-run lead in a 7-6 victory Thursday at Minnesota.
Ninth-inning home runs by Jose Miranda and Carlos Santana had erased a 6-2 deficit before DeLuca connected on reliever Griffin Jax's sinker to score the automatic runner and give the Rays the lead for good. Tampa Bay (36-39) improved to a Major League-best 26-11 in games decided by two runs or fewer.
In the bottom of the extra inning, Siri caught pinch hitter Carlos Correa's fly-out to center field and then gunned down Royce Lewis at third for a double play. Closer Pete Fairbanks coaxed another center-field fly out from Santana to end the game.
The Rays and Twins (41-34) had spent most of a rainy afternoon deadlocked before Richie Palacios pinch-ran for Isaac Paredes, who had reached on a single. Palacios then stole second before coming home on pinch hitter Amed Rosario's left-field double to break a 2-2 tie.
Siri and Yandy Díaz added insurance home runs in the ninth inning off Jay Jackson to give Tampa Bay a seemingly commanding advantage.
Santana led off the bottom of the ninth with a home run to right, and Minnesota put runners at first and second with no outs.
Then came Miranda's three-run blast against Fairbanks (2-3), who earned the win in his first appearance since exiting Tuesday's game with a right-thumb contusion on his throwing hand. Miranda sent a slider into the left-center field bleachers after Byron Buxton doubled down the left-field line and Kyle Farmer walked.
Jax (3-3) took the loss for Minnesota, which finished a 10-game home stand 7-3 and dropped its second straight after a six-game winning streak.
At times, Tampa Bay handled starter Simeon Woods Richardson’s fastball and slider, tallying four doubles against the No. 5 man in the Twins rotation. But Woods Richardson, who had started just one Major League game before this season, repeatedly worked out of trouble with six strikeouts and two earned runs on four hits in six innings.
“I don’t do this very often, but that’s a nine out of 10,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said before Thursday's game when asked to rate Woods Richardson's performance this season. “Like, how can it how can it be that much better? He’s pitched so competitively, almost every single start that he’s been out there, and he really solidified our rotation in a time where we needed it.”
Making his second start against the club with which he made his Major League debut in 2018, Rays starter Zack Littell struck out five batters and allowed two earned runs on five hits in five innings. Neither he nor Woods Richardson factored into the decision.
Minnesota had acquired Littell, then a reliever, from the Yankees in a trade for pitcher Jaime García. Littell left the Twins via free agency in 2020 and had stints with San Francisco, Texas and Boston before the Rays claimed him off waivers and made him a starter last May.
Lewis’ 373-foot home run to left field made it 2-2 in the third. The Twins designated hitter's ninth homer in 15 games spared the Target Field infrastructure this time; Lewis’ home run Wednesday night in a 3-2, 10-inning loss had damaged the left-field ribbon board, causing a chunk of it to go dark.
It was already repaired when fans began arriving Thursday morning.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Twins: Starting right fielder Max Kepler left the game with neck spasms after sliding into first on a first-inning bunt attempt. ... Shortstop Carlos Correa and outfielder Willi Castro were held out of the starting lineup but both pinch hit Thursday. Baldelli had hoped to give both players the day off ahead of Minnesota’s nine-game road trip to close the month of June.
UP NEXT
Rays: RHP Ryan Pepiot (4-4, 4.57 ERA) is scheduled to open Tampa Bay’s three-game road series at Pittsburgh on Friday. The Pirates have yet to name a starter.
Twins: Minnesota heads west for a nine-game road trip to Oakland, Arizona and Seattle. RHP Chris Paddack (5-3, 5.25 ERA) is expected to start Friday against A’s RHP Joey Estes (2-2, 5.97).
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