Jonathan Aranda and Yandy Diaz drove in two runs apiece, and the Tampa Bay Rays cruised to a 7-1 win over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday night in Minneapolis.
Ben Williamson and Hunter Feduccia added one RBI apiece for the Rays, who evened the three-game series at one win apiece with the rubber match set for Sunday. Cedric Mullins and Chandler Simpson finished with two hits apiece.
Brooks Lee drove in the lone run for Minnesota. The Twins managed only three hits, none of which went for extra bases.
Rays left-hander Steven Matz (2-0) allowed one run on two hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out eight.
Twins right-hander Mick Abel (0-2) surrendered four runs on six hits in four innings. He walked three and struck out three before giving way to the bullpen.
The Rays jumped to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second as Abel struggled early with his command. He hit Richie Palacios with a pitch to load the bases, and then he plunked Diaz to bring in the first run. Aranda ripped a two-run double in the next at-bat to make it 3-0.
Matt Wallner led off the bottom of the second with a single and scored later in the inning on an error after Lee’s single to center. That cut the Twins’ deficit to 3-1.
The Rays added a run in the third to go ahead 4-1. Mullins led off the inning with a bunt single before stealing second, advancing to third on a single by Simpson and scoring on a double-play groundout by Williamson.
In the fifth, Tampa Bay scored two more runs to increase its lead to 6-1. Williamson ripped an RBI single to score Mullins, and Feduccia hit an RBI single to right to score Williamson.
Diaz added an RBI triple in the eighth to increase the Rays’ lead to 7-1. It was his first triple of the season and the eighth of his 10-year career.
