Twins Strike Early, Pound Rays 9-3 to Take Series

St. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Injuries keep piling up for the Tampa Bay Rays, and several coaches are out with COVID issues. That can put any team into a bit of a funk, and it seems like the Rays are there this weekend.

For the second straight day, the Rays got thumped by the Minnesota Twins on another day of uninspired baseball. On Sunday, Tampa Bay starter Josh Fleming gave up five runs in the first inning, and the Rays never recovered, losing 9-3. They lost 9-1 on Saturday, and giving up nine runs on back-to-back days is something that just doesn't happen with this Rays team.

They also aren't hitting much either, batting just .211 in this season. They finished their nine-game homestand with a 5-4 record after winning series against Boston and Seattle. They are now 12-10 on the year, and now head out west for a 10-game road trip to Oakland, Seattle and Anaheim to take on the Los Angeles Angels. The Seattle series is four games.

"We just went 5-4 on the homestand, and that's not what we're shooting for,'' Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said. "We need to find a way to get on a run and get the offense going and give the pitchers some breathing room a little bit.''

The first inning was ugly right from the start. On the third pitch of the game, Rays shortstop Taylor Walls – who was starting because Wander Franco was battling a hamstring issue — caught an easy ground ball from leadoff hitter Byron Buxton but sailed the throw over the head of first baseman Harold Ramirez.

That had to be an ominous sign for Fleming, who gave up seven unearned runs on Tuesday because of two Rays errors. Much like that outing, he didn't do much to douse the fire after it started.

Fleming walked Carlos Correa, and then Kyle Garlick singled to right, scoring Buxton. Jorge Polanco then hit a two-run double to make it 3-0. After a Gio Urshela groundout, Max Kepler and an RBI double and catcher Gary Sanchez had an RBI single. The inning ended on a double play, but not before Fleming had thrown 29 pitches and was in a huge hole.

"As of late with Flem, things just haven't come easy for him,'' Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said of Fleming. "He's super efficient and works quick, but so far, it just hasn't played out that way yet. We've got to find ways to limit damage. Credit to Minnesota, they did a good job. It's a lineup when it gets rolling can be pretty dangerous, and we've seen'' 

He gave up another run in the fourth, a long home run to left center from Buxton with two outs. That was the end of his outing, and he was replaced by right-hander Robert Dugger, who had been called up from Triple-A Durham earlier in the day.

The Rays' bats didn't heat up until it was far too late. They struggled to hit early off of Twins starter Josh Winder, who earned his first major-league win. The 25-0year-old from Richmond, Va., pitched six innings and allowed just two Tampa Bay hits, striking out seven.

Trailing 8-0 in the bottom of the seventh, Josh Lowe doubled and scored on a Taylor Walls double off of reliever Tyler Duffey. They added two more runs in the eighth, thanks to doubles from Brandon Lowe and Randy Arozarena and an RBI single by Manuel Margot, but it was far too little and far too late.

Dugger was able to eat up the rest of the innings for the Rays, saving the bullpen from any unnecessary work, which means a lot with 10 more games before a day off.

"I was very appreciative of Duggie doing that and it really helps a lot,'' Cash said. "He was pitching on normal rest, but it's still different when you get a phone call last night that he was coming up. We really appreciate his effort there that we didn't have to use anybody else.''

The 10-game West Coast trip starts Monday night in Oakland, part of a stretch of 16 straight games. The two teams met in St. Petersburg that first week of the season, and the A's took three of four games.