MINNEAPOLIS – Willy Adames and Choi Ji-man had RBI singles, and Yandy Diaz drove in what proved to be the winning run with a sacrifice fly to highlight a three-run 18th inning and lead the Tampa Bay Rays to a 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday afternoon.
It was the longest game by innings in Target Field history and came just nine days after Minnesota and the Boston Red Sox set the previous mark, a 4-3 victory by the Twins that went 17 innings.
Ryan Yarbrough (7-3), the ninth Tampa Bay pitcher, picked up the win, allowing no runs on two hits while striking out five over three innings. Rays pitchers combined to strike out 22 batters in the contest, a franchise record.
Luis Arraez went 3-for-7 with an RBI, and Jorge Polanco had two hits for the Twins, who entered with a five-game winning streak against Tampa Bay.
Ryne Harper (3-1), the 10th pitcher for Minnesota and pitching for the third straight day, suffered the loss, allowing three runs on three hits and a walk while also hitting a batter in one inning of relief.
In the 18th, the Rays’ first three batters reached base as Brandon Lowe walked, Travis d’Arnaud was hit by a pitch and Tommy Pham reached base on an infield single to load the bases. One out later, Diaz drove in Lowe with a sacrifice fly to left. Adames and Choi then followed with RBI singles.
Tampa Bay loaded the bases with no outs in the 10th against reliever Blake Parker on a walk to Choi and back-to-back singles by Austin Meadows and Joey Wendle. But Parker worked out of the jam by getting Lowe to pop out, striking out d’Arnaud and then getting Pham to ground out to third baseman Miguel Sano, who made a highlight-reel diving stop in the hole on the play.
The 19 pitchers threw a combined 501 pitches in a game that had its start delayed 57 minutes by rain.
Angels 8, Athletics 3
In Anaheim, Shohei Ohtani ignited a third-inning rally with his 10th homer of the season as Los Angeles defeated Oakland.
Ohtani, who has now reached double figures in homers in both of his MLB seasons, went 1-for-4. He struck out three times.
The home run was the 24-year-old’s seventh in the month of June.
An RBI from Albert Pujols and a two-RBI single from Luis Rengifo completed the five-run rally, as the home team chased Tanner Anderson from the mound.
Phillies 6, Mets 3
In Philadelphia, Jean Segura hit a three-run, walk-off homer against Edwin Diaz moments after Maikel Franco hit a tying, two run shot against the closer in the bottom of the ninth and the hosts downed New York to complete a four-game sweep.
Cubs 9, Braves 7
In Chicago, Craig Kimbrel dodged trouble for a save in his season debut when new teammate Anthony Rizzo dived into first base for the final out as the Cubs rallied from five runs down to beat Atlanta.
Called up from Triple-A earlier in the day, Kimbrel struck out Brian McCann looking and induced a groundout from Johan Camargo to start the ninth. Ronald Acuna Jr. then doubled into Wrigley Field’s ivy, and Dansby Swanson walked on four pitches. Freddie Freeman grounded sharply down the first-base line, and Rizzo fielded and had to dive for the bag to beat Freeman.
Kimbrel earned his 334th career save and did it against his original team.
Pirates 10, Astros 0
In Houston, Josh Bell homered for the second straight game as one of five home runs by Pittsburgh in a rout of the Astros.
Rangers 3, Tigers 1
In Detroit, Joey Gallo hit two solo homers, Ariel Jurado tossed seven shutout innings and Texas completed a three-game sweep of the Tigers.
In Other Games
Dodgers 12, Rockies 8
Diamondbacks 5, Giants 1
Nationals 8, Marlins 5
Brewers 4, Mariners 2
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Source : Baseball – The Japan Times