MINNEAPOLIS — Yandy Diaz led the way as the Rays rolled to another win over a contending team Monday in beating the Twins 7-4, but they lost centerfielder Jose Siri to a right hand injury after he was hit by a pitch.
Diaz had a career high-tying four hits, one shy of the team record, and Tyler Glasnow worked six solid innings against the American League Central-leading Twins as the Rays won their fourth straight, having taken the last three from the Mariners.
The win improved the Rays to 89-56 overall, as they won for the 15th time in their last 20 games and 27th in 40. They remained three games behind the AL East-leading Orioles, who they face in a four-game series starting Thursday in Baltimore.
The Rays grabbed the early lead when Diaz led off with a single, went to second on a passed ball, third on a Randy Arozarena single and scored on a single by Josh Lowe, who logged his 74th RBI and later his 29th steal. They made it 2-0 in the third when Arozarena reached on an error, went to second on a groundout, third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Siri.
The Rays expanded the lead to 5-1 in the fifth in unexpected fashion, a three-run homer by shortstop Taylor Walls, who had been struggling at the plate since returning from the injured list Sept. 1. He had eight strikeouts and one hit in his previous 12 at-bats before his blast to right.
Siri was hit during that inning by a Dylan Floro pitch, was in obvious pain and left the game after the Rays were done batting. The team said he was undergoing imaging and there would be an update after the game.
The Rays added on in the sixth. Diaz led off with his fourth hit, and 20th homer, an impressive accomplishment given he had never hit more than 14 in a season. Brandon Lowe followed with a single, went to second on an Arozarena single, third on a Josh Lowe flyout and scored on a fielder’s choice bunt by Vidal Brujan, who had replaced Siri in the lineup.
Glasnow, who struck out a career-high tying 14 in his previous outing, fanned five of the first six Twins, worked around a brief spat of wildness in the second, and allowed only two hits and one run, on a solo homer, over the first five innings.
His only real trouble came in the sixth, after the Rays had built a 7-1 lead. Edouard Julien and Alex Kirilloff singled, then Royce Lewis blasted a 419-foot, 112.9-mph homer to right to make it 7-4. Max Kepler followed with a single, but Glasnow avoided further trouble by striking out Carlos Correa — giving him eight for the night — and getting Willi Castro to bounce into a double play on his 93rd and final pitch.
This story will be updated.
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