Twins pitch well but offense quieted in loss to Rays
A well-pitched rubber match that featured just two solo blasts through the first nine innings was decided in extras by a third home run. Richie Palacios broke open a tied game in the 10th inning with a two-run home run off Justin Topa, sending the Twins to a 4-1 loss in the series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays. One more run would score in the inning as Topa allowed a hit and a walk before he departed, and Taylor Rogers later issued a bases-loaded walk.
It came on another slow day for the Twins’ offense, which managed just three hits for the second straight day. The Twins are now 3-6 and have scored just one run in four of their nine games. “If you just dumb it down, we’ve got to just put the ball in play and kind of work from there,” said first baseman Kody Clemens, who went 0 for 4.
Two hits came off the bat of Matt Wallner, who hit a mammoth blast out to the concourse in right field in the second inning off starter Nick Martinez, giving the Twins a one-run lead. They did not have another hit leave the infield all day. Their second hit came in the seventh when Wallner’s dribbler was deflected by first baseman Jonathan Aranda.
Former Twins reliever Griffin Jax grabbed it and dove to the bag, but Wallner just beat him there. He was later thrown out by Jax trying to take second base. Austin Martin also had an infield hit in the loss.
“We need to make some hard contact. If I had a solution for it, it would be a lot easier,” manager Derek Shelton said. “But right now, we’re just in total in a little bit of a funk.