Yandy Diaz clubbed a two-run homer in Tampa Bay’s eight-run fourth inning as the Rays blasted the Minnesota Twins 9-4 on Wednesday in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Diaz rocketed his 13th homer to straightaway center to cap the big inning for Tampa Bay (69-70), which holds a 2-1 lead in the series entering the finale on Thursday.
Diaz finished 2-for-4 with a walk, and teammate Jose Caballero was 2-for-4 with a double, two runs and an RBI. Taylor Walls drove in three runs.
Tampa Bay’s third pitcher, Tyler Alexander (6-4) threw 3 2/3 innings, surrendering four runs on nine hits. He fanned two and walked none.
For Minnesota (75-64), Carlos Santana hit his 20th home run and walked twice, and Kyle Farmer went deep for the third time. Matt Wallner (RBI) and Jose Miranda (double) had two hits apiece.
Each club started with an opener, with Ronny Henriquez pitching one scoreless inning for the Twins and Cole Sulser tossing two shutout frames for the Rays.
Minnesota reliever Louie Varland (0-6) was rocked for eight runs on five hits in 2 1/3 innings. He struck out one, walked one, committed a throwing error and surrendered Diaz’s homer. Varland had been recalled from Triple-A Saint Paul before the game.
The Rays blew open a scoreless contest in the fourth by sending 11 players to the plate.
After a single, a walk and a flyout, Varland made an errant throw on a pickoff attempt at first base, scoring Brandon Lowe and sending Junior Caminero to third. Jonny DeLuca’s RBI fielder’s-choice grounder with the infield in and Caballero’s run-scoring single made it 3-0.
Ben Rortvedt’s fielder’s-choice grounder, on which second baseman Royce Lewis committed a throwing error, scored a run before Walls singled in a pair for a 6-0 lead. Diaz then rounded out the inning with his 423-foot long ball.
Farmer put the Twins on the board in the seventh with a leadoff shot to left off Alexander before Santana hit a two-run laser to left later in the inning. Wallner added an RBI single in the frame to make it 8-4.
Walls’ sacrifice fly in the eighth completed the scoring.
