MINNESOTA TWINS 4, TAMPA BAY RAYS 3 IN TAMPA BAY

Date:  Thursday, September 5, 2024.

Batting stars:  Ryan Jeffers was 2-for-4 with a double.  Edouard Julien hit a three-run homer, his eighth.  Matt Wallner hit a home run, his eleventh.

Pitching stars:  Pablo Lopez struck out nine in 6.2 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and a walk.  Griffin Jax struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.  Jhoan Duran struck out two in a perfect inning.

Opposition stars: Jonny DeLuca was 3-for-4 with a double and two runs.  Yandy Diaz was 2-for-4 with a double.

The game:  Jose Miranda and Carlos Santana led off the second with singles, and Edouard Julien hit a home run, giving the Twins a 3-0 lead.  It went to 4-0 in the third, when Matt Wallner hit a one-out home run.

Tampa Bay got on the board in the bottom of the third.  Jonny DeLuca and Taylor Walls led off with singles.  The next two batters went out, but a walk to Brandon Lowe loaded the bases and Junior Caminero delivered a two-run single, cutting the Twins’ lead in half at 4-2.

The Twins got a man to third in the fifth when Austin Martin walked, stole second, and went to third on a ground out, but he was stranded there.  The Rays tallied again in the seventh when Jonny DeLuca led off with a double and scored on a two-out double from Yandy Diaz.  The tying run was in scoring position, but Griffin Jax came on to retire Brandon Lowe on a grounder to second to end the inning.

Christopher Morel hit a two-out triple in the eighth, but he was stranded on third.  The last for Tampa Bay batters went out, and the victory was preserved.

WP:  Pedro Lopez (14-8).

LP:  Taj Bradley (6-10).

S:  Jhoan Duran (22).

Notes:  One really can’t say what the “regular” lineup was in 2024, because only two players played as many as one hundred games at one position.  Willi Castro was at short in this game, with Carlos Correa out due to injury.  Austin Martin was in center, with Byron Buxton out due to injury.

Michael Helman was batting .500.  He would finish at .300.  Jose Miranda was batting .301.  He would finish at .284.

Griffin Jax had an ERA of 1.89.  He would finish at 2.03.

Ben Rortvedt came in to catch late in the game.  He played for the Twins in 2021.

Michael Helman was a September call-up.  He was mostly used as a pinch-runner, as in this game, or as a defensive replacement.  He appeared in nine games but had just ten at-bats.

There’s not much I can tell you about this game or this team that you don’t know.  In fact, you may even remember this specific game.  I do.

Record:  Tampa Bay was 69-71, in fourth place in the AL East, 11.5 games behind Baltimore.  They would finish 80-82, in fourth place, fourteen games behind New York.

The Twins were 76-64, in second place in the AL Central, four games behind Cleveland.  They would finish 82-80, in fourth place, 10.5 games behind Cleveland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 30-34 (.469).