Joe Ryan tossed six strong innings and Kody Clemens hit a 415-foot home run, lifting the visiting Minnesota Twins to a 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday.
Ryan (5-2) allowed one run on five hits and struck out five batters in a matchup against the franchise that selected him in the seventh round of the 2018 draft.
Brooks Lee drove in an early run on a sacrifice fly for Minnesota and Ty France added an RBI single in the eighth. Carlos Correa collected three hits and scored a run to help the Twins snap a modest two-game skid.
Tampa Bay’s Jonathan Aranda had an RBI single and joined Brandon Lowe with two hits.
Jose Caballero singled, stole two bases and scored on a groundout in the seventh inning for the Rays, who saw their six-game winning streak come to a halt.
Louis Varland relieved Ryan and allowed Caballero’s run to cut the Twins’ lead to 3-2, but France regained the two-run cushion by plating Correa in the eighth.
Griffin Jax bridged the gap to Jhoan Duran, who worked around a walk in the ninth inning to secure his ninth save of the season.
Taj Bradley (4-4) permitted three runs (two earned) on five hits in seven innings. He struck out six.
Trevor Larnach ripped a double to lead off the game, advanced to third on an infield single by Correa and scored on Lee’s sacrifice fly to left field.
Clemens doubled the advantage in the second inning by depositing a 0-1 fastball from Bradley over the wall in center field. The homer was Clemens’ fifth of the season and second in four games.
Minnesota preserved the 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second, successfully foiling a double-steal attempt after shortstop Correa threw out Aranda at home to end the inning.
Aranda halved the deficit with an RBI single in the fourth inning. The Twins answered in the sixth when Ryan Jeffers worked a one-out walk, advanced to second on a single and scored and error by second baseman Lowe.
–Field Level Media
