Rays capitalize on crucial Twins error to rally in extras

MINNEAPOLIS -- It wasn’t pretty. The official scorecard will not end up framed in Cooperstown or behind glass at the Smithsonian. But for a Rays team starved for a win, it was the finest work of art imaginable.

The Rays overcame a baserunning mistake to score a run without a hit in the 10th inning and held on for a 3-2 win over the Twins on Wednesday at Target Field.

On a night when they went 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position and stranded 12 men on base -- including leaving the bases loaded in the seventh and eighth innings -- it took a throwing error by Twins third baseman Royce Lewis on Jonny DeLuca’s grounder, allowing Randy Arozarena to score from second base, to pull out the win.

“I’m happy that we were able to come through. We’ve got to find ways to score some more runs though, there’s no doubt,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said.

The Rays trailed 2-1 going into the seventh -- that’s when things started to get wacky.

Ben Rortvedt blooped a single to left with one out. José Caballero came in as a pinch-runner and stole second, advancing to third when the throw trickled into center field.

Yandy Díaz then hit a dribbler up the third-base line that went for an infield single, scoring Caballero and moving Taylor Walls, who walked earlier in the frame, to second.

“That’s one of the hits that you’re not looking for but you’re happy you got, so I’m glad it happened,” Díaz said through interpreter Manny Navarro.

The Rays eventually loaded the bases, but were unable to capitalize further. Then they came close to taking the lead in the eighth off Twins reliever Josh Staumont, who started the inning with back-to-back walks to Arozarena and Richie Palacios.

After fanning DeLuca and getting Caballero to ground into a force out at third, Staumont walked Walls to load the bases. Díaz ran the count full, then smoked a line drive to left field that was caught by a leaping Austin Martin. Leaving his bat at 107.9 mph, it was the second hardest-hit ball on the night. But Díaz said it was par for the course this year.

“It seems like all season long I’ve been hitting the ball hard out front and they’ve been getting me out, so here was another moment today just like that," Díaz said.

Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay bullpen put a clamp on the Twins, who went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

“Our bullpen did a pretty tremendous job of giving us an opportunity to find that one run to scratch and claw across,” Cash said.

That one run arrived in a typically odd fashion. With automatic runner Jose Siri on second and Arozarena on first in the 10th, Twins reliever Jorge Alcala threw a pitch to the backstop while facing Richie Palacios. However, the ball caromed right back to catcher Christian Vázquez, who had plenty of time to throw Siri out trying to advance to third.

“There’s nothing you can do about that,” said Cash. “That stunk.”

Palacios flew out to center for the second out, and when DeLuca hit a routine grounder to Lewis at third, it looked like the Twins were going to get out of the jam. But Lewis’ throw across the diamond was low and wide, and it skipped past first baseman Carlos Santana.

Arozarena, who had stolen second base during DeLuca’s at-bat, scampered around third and scored the go-ahead run.

“Whenever I’m on second and there’s a play like that, I know the third baseman’s got to make a long throw, so you’re always paying attention to make sure,” said Arozarena via Navarro.

Phil Maton put the Twins down 1-2-3 in the 10th, ensuring an anticlimactic ending to a game packed with drama.

Cash pointed to the Rays doing just enough of the little things to be able to pull out the win.

“Late in the game, those plays are crucial in the moment,” Cash said. “Randy gets the extra 90 feet with the stolen base, that puts himself into a position where if an error like that happens we can capitalize.”

The victory gave the Rays a chance to win the series and even their mark on the road trip (2-3) before heading to Pittsburgh on Friday.