ST. PETERSBURG (620 WDAE) -- C.J. Cron homered twice and drove in four, Denard Span added three RBI and Blake Snell pitched seven innings of five-hit baseball as the Tampa Bay Rays won their season-high third straight and clinched their second consecutive home series with a 10-1 win over the Minnesota Twins Saturday at Tropicana Field.
CRON'S BAT WAKES UP WITH TWO BIG BLASTS: After seeing his eight-game hitting streak end on Friday, Cron gave the Rays a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third with his third home run of the season. He also capped of a five-run seventh with his second home run of the night also a two-run blast, that followed an RBI double by Wilson Ramos that made it 3-1, and a two-run single by Denard Span that started to open the game up.
SNELL'S STRONG STARTS CONTINUE: The left-hander had his third straight quality starting allowing just a single run (on a first-inning sacrifice fly by Miguel Sano) on five hits in seven complete innings. He did not walk a batter for the second consecutive start and struck out six in his 100-pitch performance, and became the first Rays starter to finish seven full frames this season.
WENDLE'S BASKET CATCH HELPS KEEP THE LEAD: Snell was still holding on to a slim 2-1 advantage in the top of the seventh when Robbie Grossman started the inning with a double. Eddie Rosario sacrificed him to third base, forcing the Rays infield to play in against Mitch Garver. The Twins catcher attempted to flare a pitch over the drawn-in infield, but Joey Wendle made a basket catch with his back to the infield on a full run to preserve the lead.
Snell (3-1) then struck out Ehire Adrianza to end the inning, and Tampa Bay didn't look back.
Matt Andriese pitched the final two innings to finish off the win, and clinch the series victory.
SUNDAY'S MATCHUP
Rays vs. Minnesota Twins, 1:10 p.m. first pitch, coverage on WDAE begins at 11:00 a.m. with The Inside Pitch presented by Crown Eurocars
Rays starter - RHP Yonny Chirinos (0-1, 2.70 ERA)
Twins starter - RHP Phil Hughes (4-3, 5.87 ERA in 2017)
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Monday - OFF
Tuesday - Rays at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 p.m. first pitch
Wednesday - Rays at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 p.m. first pitch
Thursday - Rays at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 p.m. first pitch