Furious Comeback Falls Short
The Tampa Bay Rays were unable to rebound from an early 7-run deficit falling to the Minnesota Twins 11-8.
Nathan Eovaldi (3-4, 4.59 ERA) took the loss for Tampa Bay allowing eight earned runs in just 2.2-innings of work. The Twins tattooed him for nine hits while striking out once and drawing a pair of walks. With the loss the Rays drop to 38-36 on the season.
Trevor Hildenberger (2-2, 2.80 ERA) earns the win for Minnesota who improve to 43-49 with the victory.
Former Ray Jake Odorizzi got the start for Minnesota but was unable to make it through five innings despite being given a 8-1 cushion to work with. He allowed six runs (five earned) on eight hits while striking out three and walking one in 4.1-innings of work.
Rays Comeback:
Tampa Bay mounted a comeback after trailing 8-1 after the third inning. They picked up a run in the fourth inning on a Joey Wendle single scoring Jake Bauers from second. Bauers originally thought he had homered but had the call reversed on replay.
There was no doubt about Bauers next homer, a three run shot in the fifth, that cut the Twins lead to 8-5. C.J. Cron added an RBI double in the inning to bring the Rays to within a run at 8-6.
Matt Duffy delivered an RBI single in the sixth inning that drew the Rays to within a run at 8-7, but the Twins would answer with a pair of runs in the sixth and a run in the seventh to push the lead back out to four at 11-7.
Joey Wendle capped the Rays scoring hitting his fourth homer in the ninth.
Up Next For Rays:
Tampa Bay and Minnesota resume their four game series on Saturday afternoon at 2:10. Chris Archer (3-4, 4.41 ERA) makes his second start for the Rays since coming off the disabled list. Jose Berrios (9-7, 3.41 ERA) takes the mound for the Twins.
