Twins can't finish off sweep of Rays as Tampa Bay scores three in 10th inning

Jerry Zgoda, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Jul 6, 2025

Published in Baseball

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MINNEAPOLIS — Walk-off magic finally failed the Minnesota Twins on Sunday at Target Field, where it was Tampa Bay that scored three runs in the 10th inning before hanging on for a 7-5 victory in the series finale.

The first two games of this three-game series ended with ninth-inning, walk-off dramatics for the Twins, who have seven walk-off victories at Target Field this season.

The Rays got some payback when they used a double, a sacrifice bunt and reliever Justin Topa’s throwing error to score three runs in the 10th inning.

Yandy Díaz led off the inning with an RBI double, scoring ghost runner Danny Jansen from second. José Caballero followed with a bunt right back to Topa, but his throw to first sailed right between first baseman Kody Clemens and second baseman Brooks Lee, a three-base throwing error that also allowed Díaz to score. Caballero then came home on Junior Caminero’s sacrifice fly.

On Friday, it was Harrison Bader’s second home run of the game that beat the Rays 4-3. On Saturday, Brooks Lee’s safety squeeze scored Byron Buxton from third for a 6-5 victory.

This time, Bader reprised his hero’s role, tying the score 4-4 in the eighth inning with a towering pinch-hit, two-run homer just inside the left-field foul pole. It was Bader’s 10th home run of the season.

Sunday’s score was tied 1-1 after three innings and 2-2 after six before the Rays manufactured two runs in the eighth off Griffin Jax. They opened the inning with two singles, sacrificed the runners over, scored one run on a grounder that barely went a few feet in front of the plate and another on a high-chopping comebacker Jax couldn’t field for a hit.

Buxton led off the bottom of the first with a home run, his 20th of the season. It was the Twins’ fifth leadoff homer this season, all of them by Buxton. It was Buxton’s 14th career leadoff homer, tying him for fourth in franchise history with Chuck Knoblauch.

Joe Ryan started for the Twins and pitched six innings, giving up two runs on six hits and one walk while striking out eight. Ryan did so while waiting for an All-Star Game invitation that by game’s end hadn’t yet come.

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