Sep 4, 2021; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays left fielder Randy Arozarena (56) slides into third base against Minnesota Twins third baseman Josh Donaldson (20) during the first inning at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Mike Watters-USA TODAY Sports
Rookie Randy Arozarena went 3-for-4 and hit one of Tampa Bay’s season-high six home runs Saturday in the Rays’ 11-4 throttling of the Minnesota Twins in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Yandy Diaz (2-for- 4, four RBIs), Jordan Luplow, Manuel Margot, Nelson Cruz and Brandon Lowe went deep for Tampa Bay (86-50), which leads the second-place New York Yankees by 7 1/2 games.
Arozarena tripled, scored three times and was hit by a pitch but struck out in the seventh, a double short of a cycle.
Wander Franco returned after a one-game absence and was 2-for-5 with a double, two runs and an RBI.
With his first-inning RBI single, the rookie shortstop extended his on-base streak to 34 games — the third-longest in history by a player under age 21.
Though he allowed four runs and four hits in five innings, including two homers, starter Chris Archer (1-1) notched his first Rays’ win since May 17, 2018.
Dietrich Enns’ three scoreless innings resulted in his first career save.
With the power-fueled victory, the Rays claimed the series and exacted revenge on Minnesota (58-77), which won two of three from the American League East leaders last month in Minneapolis.
Jorge Polanco paced Minnesota by going 3-for-4 with a homer, double, two runs and two RBIs.
Miguel Sano homered and Rob Refsnyder was for 2-for-2 with two walks, but the club lost its fourth straight game.
Starter Andrew Albers (1-1) was pounded for nine runs and 10 hits — four homers — over three innings.
After Arozarena’s leadoff triple in the first inning, Franco plated him with a single up the middle. The rookie then tagged up and advanced to second on a foul fly to right before scoring on Diaz’s single.
Arozarena and Franco produced two-out hits in the second, with the Rays going up 3-0 on Albers’ balk.
Diaz then slammed Albers’ 1-0 slider to center — his 10th homer — for a three-run shot. Luplow followed by going back-to-back for his ninth homer and a 7-0 advantage.
Leading off the third, Margot popped his 10th homer to left-center field and Arozarena added his 19th for a 9-0 lead.
In the fourth, Max Kepler’s RBI groundout and Sano’s 24th long ball pulled the Twins to 9-2, but solo homers by Cruz (27th) and Lowe (32nd) matched it in the bottom half.
The game’s final runs came on Polanco’s 26th homer — a two-run blast — in the fifth.
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–Field Level Media