ST. PETERSBURG (620 WDAE) -- Carlos Gomez's two-run homer off Addison Reed in the bottom of the ninth broke a 6-6 tie, giving the Tampa Bay rays an 8-6 win over the Minnesota Twins for a three-game sweep of the weekend series.
GOMEZ'S STRUGGLES END WITH BIG BLAST: Outfielder Carlos Gomez had just two hits in his previous 38 at-bats coming into the bottom of the ninth, including a strikeout against Twins reliever Ryan Pressly that angered him so much he snapped the bat over his knee .
But the outfielder said after Sunday's game that he was able to figure things out after his strike out in the seventh against Alan Busenitz.
"One at-bat gets you going," Gomez explained. "And the bat before the homer is the one at-bat that I feel that I'm hitting."
He certainly didn't waste any time in the ninth following a C.J. Cron single. Gomez took the first pitch he saw from Addison Reed and sent it beyond the seats in left to end the game.
CRON, HECHAVARRIA ADD EARLY POWER: Cron got things started in the bottom of the first inning after Twins starter Phil Hughes walked Denard Span to start the inning. Cron unloaded for his third home run in the last two games, another two-run shot that gave Tampa Bay a 2-0 advantage.
After Minnesota used single runs and sixth to take the lead away from the Rays, the bats woke back up as Daniel Robertson doubled, one of his career-high four hits on the day, scoring on a Joey Wendle single to tie the game. Jesus Sucre singled Wendle to third and after Mallex Smith struck out for the second out, Adeiny Hechavarria homered to give the Rays a 6-3 lead.
Tampa Bay extends their season-high winning streak to four games, and finishes their nine-game homestand 5-4 after an 0-3 start.
TUESDAY'S SCHEDULE
Rays at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 p.m. first pitch, coverage on WDAE begins at 6:00 with The Inside Pitch presented by Crown Eurocars
Rays starter - RHP Jake Faria (1-1, 5.82 ERA)
Orioles starter - TBA
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Wednesday - Rays at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 p.m. first pitch
Thursday - Rays at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 p.m. first pitch
Photo: Getty Images