Trevor Larnach and Brooks Lee both hit home runs to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night.
The Twins won their second consecutive game for the first time since their three-game winning streak from August 15-17. They stayed 3.5 games behind AL Central-leading Cleveland and moved ahead of Kansas City for the AL’s second wild-card spot.
Five Minnesota relievers combined to pitch 5 1/3 innings, allowing only one run. Jorge Alcala (4-3) got four outs for the win, and Jhoan Duran closed the game with his 21st save in 23 attempts.
“We needed a lot of guys to come in and pitch well. It was a very good, communal team win,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “There were a lot of calls to the bullpen. I called down there early and said it’s basically gonna be a bullpen kind of battle between both teams.
Some of them were fresh, some of them were far from fresh, but we got the win.”
With a Labor Day crowd of 11,636 in attendance, Tampa Bay lost for the fourth time in five games.
Dylan Carlson drove in two runs for the Rays, and Jonny DeLuca hit his fifth homer of the season. Zack Littell (5-9) gave up four runs and seven hits in four innings.
Carlson’s two-run single gave the Rays a 2-1 lead in the first inning. But Larnach hit a three-run home run in the second inning for his 15th homer of the season.
“We’re not sitting here where we’re at without Trevor Larnach,” Baldelli said. “He’s hitting in a prominent spot in the lineup and he’s there for a reason.”
Lee added another home run in the eighth inning off Garrett Cleavinger, sending a drive to center for his third of the year.
Littell walked four batters and struck out two in his first game back from the 15-day injured list due to right shoulder fatigue.
“Physically I felt good, just obviously not very sharp,” Littell said. “Command wasn’t great. Missed a lot over the plate. I mean, four walks just doesn’t play.”
