By ,
Published January 13, 2015
Josmil Pinto smacked a go-ahead three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the Minnesota Twins to a 6-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in the finale of a three-game set.
James Loney's one-out RBI single against Casey Fien (5-2) in the top of the eighth gave the Rays a 4-2 lead, but Minnesota exploded for a quartet of two- out runs in the home half against Joel Peralta (2-8).
Ryan Doumit's two-out homer to right-center cut the deficit to 4-3 before Trevor Plouffe singled and Josh Willingham walked. Pinto stepped up next and drilled an 0-1 fastball into the Rays bullpen in left-center.
Glen Perkins tossed a scoreless ninth to notch his 35th save of the season.
Plouffe tallied three hits and Doumit scored twice for the Twins, who snapped a four-game slide.
Wil Myers cracked a two-run shot and scored twice for Tampa Bay, which had its three-game winning streak snapped. Rays starter David Price surrendered two runs on six hits and three walks over 6 1/3 innings in the no-decision.
"I put too much pressure on myself to be perfect," Price said.
Tampa Bay has a one game lead over the Cleveland Indians for the AL's second wild-card spot. The Tribe are currently playing the Chicago White Sox.
The Rays jumped out to a 3-0 lead after plating two runs in the fourth and another in the fifth.
Myers crushed his no-doubt shot into left-center in the fourth, while Sean Rodriguez's solo blast in the fifth staked Tampa Bay its three-run cushion.
Chris Parmelee's two-out, two-run single in the seventh got the Twins on the board.
"I was just looking for a pitch to get something in the outfield," Parmelee said of his approach.
Game Notes
Minnesota was 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position, while Tampa Bay finished 1-for-5 with RISP ... Myers' homer was his 12th of the season ... Minnesota starter Pedro Hernandez allowed three runs on four hits and four walks over five frames.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/twins-rally-past-rays