The Tampa Bay Rays hit three home runs, and Chris Archer pitched into the eighth, as the Tampa Bay Rays extended their winning streak to three games with a 5-2 win over the Minnesota Twins Friday at Target Field.
Both Archer and Twins starter Hector Santiago alternated scoreless half-innings until the fourth, when Corey Dickerson led off the inning with a base hit and two batters later, Logan Morrison launched his team-leading 13th home run of the season into the seats in right.
Tampa Bay added on in the sixth, as Morrison drew a one-out walk off Santiago, and after a Steven Souza Jr. flyout, Kiermaier lined a pitch into the overhanging seats for his fourth homer of the year and a 4-0 advantage.
Minnesota got on the board in their half of the seventh, as Archer allowed a base hit to Joe Mauer, and following a pair of wild pitches that allowed the Twins first baseman to move to third, Kennys Vargas singled to center to end the shutout bid.
Archer (4-3) got his four-run lead re-established, as Souza, who got a bunch of laughs for diving at Vargas' single when he was nearly 40 feet from catching it, quieted the crowd with a massive blast to left off reliever Matt Belisle.
Archer allowed Minnesota to cut the lead to 5-2 on an RBI single by Brian Dozier, but Kevin Cash turned to Alex Colome to get the final four outs to notch his 13th save of the year.
The win gets Tampa Bay back over .500 on the season at 26-25.
The Rays will look to extend their winning streak to four games Saturday in the middle game of this contest. Jake Odorizzi (3-2, 3.14 ERA) gets the start against Adalberto Mejia (1-1, 4.96 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 2:10, with coverage on WDAE starting at 1:00 with The Inside Pitch, presented by SYkes Lakeland.