MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Richie Palacios hit a two-run homer in a three-run 10th inning, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Minnesota Twins 4-1 on Sunday.
Junior Caminero also went deep for Tampa Bay, which concluded a nine-game, 11-day, season-opening road trip with the 900th career win for manager Kevin Cash.
Leading off the extra inning, Palacios hit his first home run of the season to right field on the second pitch he saw from Justin Topa (0-1). A bases-loaded
walk by Caminero scored another run.
Bryan Baker (1-0) struck out two of the three batters he faced in the ninth inning for the win. Kevin Kelly earned his second save with a scoreless 10th.
Matt Wallner homered for the Twins, who had just three hits for the second straight game, and are hitting .192 as a team.
Caminero’s fourth-inning home run off Simeon Woods Richardson came on a pitch that was 1.14 feet above the ground, the third-lowest a Rays batter has homered on since Statcast began in 2015, behind only Corey Dickerson (0.82 feet on Oct. 1, 2016) and Brad Miller (1.08 feet on June 11, 2016).
Woods Richardson allowed one earned run on five hits and struck out four in 6 2/3 innings for Minnesota.
Nick Martinez pitched six innings of one-hit ball — Wallner’s second-inning home run — and struck out four for Tampa Bay. He is the first Rays pitcher since Jake Faria in 2017 to record a quality start in each of his first two outings with the team.
Byron Buxton was hitless in four at-bats as Minnesota’s designated hitter extended his slump to 0 for 19. Buxton was hit in the right forearm by a pitch Friday and sat out Saturday.
Rays: Return to Tropicana Field Monday for the first time since Sept. 22, 2024, with LHP Shane McClanahan (0-1, 3.86) opposing Cubs’ RHP Jameson Taillon (0-0, 0.00).
Twins: RHP Joe Ryan (0-1, 4.82) is to face Detroit RHP Casey Mize (0-1, 1.50) to open a four-game home series Monday.
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