(SportsNetwork.com) - Sporting the most home wins of any team in the American League, the Minnesota Twins try to add to their total as they host the Tampa Bay Rays at Target Field on Saturday.
Minnesota, which enters the weekend third in the AL Central standings, three games behind the Kansas City Royals, has 13 victories in 18 opportunities in Minneapolis, thanks in part to a narrow 3-2 win on Friday.
Phil Hughes limited the Rays to just two runs on five hits and a walk over seven innings of action. The hurler notched three strikeouts as he posted his third win of the campaign. Reliever Glen Perkins gave up a pair of hits in the ninth, but was still able to escape with his 12th save of 2015, the 100th of his career.
Perkins, who is just the sixth player in Minnesota history with 100 saves, is four behind Jeff Reardon for fifth on the team's all-time list.
Brian Dozier celebrated his 28th birthday in grand style with a home run in the third inning and the go-ahead RBI on a sacrifice in the seventh.
"You don't really think about it," Dozier said of his home run. "It just came in a big situation to tie the game up."
The Rays scattered eight hits, one of those a home run by David DeJesus, while Joey Butler tallied two hits and scored once as the team dropped to 11-9 on the road. Despite the setback, Tampa Bay is still within a game of first place in the AL East, trailing only the New York Yankees.
Jake Odorizzi was saddled with the loss for the visitors, surrendering three runs on eight hits over six innings of action. He didn't walk anyone and struck out five.
Taking the hill for the Rays will be 26-year old Alex Colome as he aims to pick up his third win of the campaign. The right-hander, who spent time on the disabled list early on, had registered a pair of victories during the first week of May before suffering a loss to the New York Yankees at home on Monday.
In that most recent outing Colome surrendered eight runs on 11 hits and a walk. Of those 11 hits, four left the yard, raising his ERA to 5.63 in the process.
Countering for the Twins will be Trevor May. The Washington native who is in his second year in the majors, has allowed opponents to bat a robust .310 off him in 2015. In his last outing on Sunday, the right-hander completed only four innings as he gave up six runs on nine hits and three walks. May struck out four in the decision, his third loss of the season.
Minnesota hurlers have had trouble shutting down opposing batters to this point, allowing foes to hit .274 against them, the highest batting average against in the AL. At the other end of the spectrum are the Rays who have limited opponents to just a collective .220 average, tops in the league.
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