Minneapolis, MN (SportsNetwork.com) - Evan Longoria's two-run single highlighted a five-run sixth and the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Minnesota Twins 11-3 to salvage a three-game set.
Longoria had two hits, drove in three and scored a run for the Rays, who have won four of their last six games. James Loney went 4-for-5 with three RBI in the triumph.
"To kind of come out today and pour it on was nice," Rays manager Kevin Cash said.
Chris Archer (4-4) allowed a run on four hits and a walk over six innings to pick up the win.
Kyle Gibson (3-3) surrendered three runs on eight hits and two walks over five frames for Minnesota, which had won three of its last four games, including the first two in this series.
"I would've liked to get a few more innings under my belt," Gibson said. "Five innings leaves a lot of pressure on the pen."
The Twins opened the scoring in the first on Joe Mauer's RBI single, but the Rays went ahead with two runs in the third, another in the fifth and five more in the sixth to blow the game open.
Bobby Wilson and Logan Forsythe sandwiched singles around a Kevin Kiermaier walk to load the bases with no outs in the third. Longoria's base hit to left plated Wilson and Kiermaier scored on Loney's groundout.
Brandon Guyer's RBI single to center in the fifth made it 3-1 in favor of Tampa Bay.
Nick Franklin hit a one-out double in the sixth and advanced to third on a Brian Duensing wild pitch. Wilson worked a walk and Kiermaier singled to push across Franklin.
Michael Tonkin replaced Duensing and hit Forsythe with a pitch to fill the bags before Longoria's base hit to center brought home Wilson and Kiermaier. Loney's single through the hole on the right side scored Forsythe, and Longoria crossed home plate on David DeJesus' single two batters later, extending the margin to 8-1.
RBI singles by Wilson and Joey Butler and a run-scoring double by Loney made it 11-1 in the ninth. Doug Bernier's two-run double in the home ninth capped the scoring.
Game Notes
The Rays posted 19 hits and went 10-for-23 with runners in scoring position ... Minnesota was 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position ... Wilson had two hits, an RBI and three runs scored.
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