Carlos Santana delivered a pinch-hit, walk-off single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Minnesota Twins to a 7-6 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night in Minneapolis.
Santana’s two-out hit drove in Manuel Margot, who led off the inning with a single and advanced to second base on a single by Carlos Correa. Willi Castro finished 2-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs for the Twins, who won their sixth straight game.
Randy Arozarena hit a three-run homer to lead the Rays. Brandon Lowe and Josh Lowe added one solo home run apiece.
Twins right-hander Jhoan Duran (3-2) earned the victory with a scoreless inning of relief.
Rays right-hander Pete Fairbanks (1-3) gave up one run on two hits in two-thirds of an inning. He left the game with two outs in the ninth after Correa’s hit up the middle deflected off his pitching hand.
The Rays jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Arozarena’s home run in the top of the first. He stepped up to the plate with runners on first and second and two outs, and he pulled the first pitch he saw 420 feet to left field for his 10th homer of the season.
Josh Lowe hit an RBI single in the third to increase Tampa Bay’s lead to 4-0.
Minnesota pulled even with a four-run fourth inning.
Castro came through with the bases loaded when he hit a three-run double to right. Moments later, Trevor Larnach hit a ground-rule double to score Castro and make it 4-4.
The Lowes provided a lift for the Rays in the fifth. Brandon Lowe hit a leadoff homer to put Tampa Bay on top 5-4, and, two batters later, Josh Lowe followed with a solo shot to center to increase the lead to 6-4.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Twins battled back once again. Max Kepler led off the inning with a homer to cut the deficit to 6-5, and Ryan Jeffers evened the score at 6-6 with a sacrifice fly to center to drive in Correa.
The game included an hour-plus rain delay in the fifth inning.
–Field Level Media
