Rays complete sweep against Twins with 4-3 win

ST. PETERSBURG (AP) -

Matt Moore won his 13th game this season, Luke Scott and Evan Longoria hit back-to-back homers, and the surging Tampa Bay Rays completed a four-game sweep by beating the Minnesota Twins 4-3 on Thursday.

Moore (13-3), who was added to the AL All-Star team after initially being left off, gave up three runs, three hits, two walks and had 10 strikeouts over 7 1-3 innings in winning his fifth straight start and setting a team record for victories before the All-Star break.

Two of the runs charged to Moore scored when reliever Alex Torres gave up a two-run single in the eighth to Joe Mauer that cut the Twins' deficit to 4-3. Jake McGee got his first save pitching a scoreless ninth

Scott and Longoria hit solo shots in a span of three pitches off Mike Pelfrey (4-7) as the Rays took a 3-1 lead in the sixth. Longoria, bothered recently by plantar fasciitis, stopped a career-high stretch of 14 games without an extra base hit.

Rookie Wil Myers had three hits and two RBIs for Tampa Bay, which climbed to a season-best 13 games over .500 with its eighth straight victory. The second-place Rays also improved to 10-1 during a stretch of 14 consecutive games against the Twins, Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros -- teams with the three worst records in the American League

Pelfrey allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings. The Twins have has lost 11 of 12, including five straight.

Brian Dozier got the Twins' first hit off Moore when he lined a double with two outs in the sixth down the left-field line that just got past the reach of Longoria at third base. Dozier then scored to tie it at 1 on Jamey Carroll's run-scoring single.

The run ended Moore's scoreless streak at 22 1-3 innings.

The Twins struck out six times and had only one well hit ball, a third-inning fly near the warning track in center by Aaron Hicks through five innings. The lone baserunner during the stretch came when Mauer drew a two-out walk in the fourth.

Tampa Bay took a 1-0 lead on Myers' broken-bat RBI single in the third.

Myers extended the lead to 4-1 with a seventh-inning run-scoring single.

The teams started the series finale just over 12 hours after the Rays won Wednesday night's 4-hour, 47-minute marathon 4-3 in 13 innings.

A number of regulars, including Tampa Bay's Ben Zobrist, Desmond Jennings and Yunel Escobar, along with Minnesota's Justin Morneau and Ryan Doumit were not in the starting lineups.

NOTES: Rays RHP Alex Cobb, struck in the right ear by a liner hit by Kansas City's Eric Hosmer on June 15, underwent a concussion test Wednesday and feels the results will be positive. He could throw batting practice for the first since getting hurt Sunday. ... The Twins placed LHP Caleb Thielbar on the bereavement list and recalled RHP Michael Tonkin from Triple-A Rochester. It was annouced Tuesday that Thielbar would be leaving the team following the death of his grandmother.

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Zobrist lifts Rays over Twins in 13th inning

ST. PETERSBURG (AP) -

Ben Zobrist hit an RBI single with two outs in the 13th inning and the Tampa Bay Rays won their season-best seventh straight game, beating the Minnesota Twins 4-3 on Wednesday night.
Zobrist lined a 1-2 pitch from Ryan Pressly (2-1) into the gap in right-center field, ending a 4-hour, 47-minute game that featured 35 strikeouts -- 19 for Rays pitchers.
Tampa Bay climbed to a season-best 12 games over .500. The Rays also improved to 9-1 a stretch of 14 consecutive games against the Twins, Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros -- teams with the three worst records in the American League.
Minnesota has lost 10 of 11, including four straight.
Cesar Ramos (2-2) got two outs, escaping a jam with runners at first and third in the 13th to get the win.
Yunel Escobar singled with one out in the 13th and took second with two outs on Pressly's errant pickoff throw. After Luke Scott walked on a full count, Zobrist singled.
Pedro Florimon hit a two-run, third-inning homer and Clete Thomas had a RBI single in the fifth to give the Twins a 3-1 lead against Rays starter Jeremy Hellickson.
Kelly Johnson's two-run homer off Minnesota starter Kevin Correia made it 3-all in the sixth.
The Twins wasted opportunities to take the lead in the ninth and 11th. They failed to take advantage of a pair of singles to begin the ninth against closer Fernando Rodney, and let reliever Jamey Wright off the hook when Oswaldo Arcia grounded out to strand runners at second and third base in the 11th.
Arcia also couldn't get the potential go-ahead run home in the 13th, striking out after Joe Mauer singled and moved to third on Ryan Doumit's two-out single.
Tampa Bay nearly won it in the 10th. Wil Myers singled with two outs, and running on a 3-2 pitch would have scored easily from first base on Johnson's line drive that Twins center fielder Aaron Hicks leaped to catch before crashing into the wall.
Hellickson had won four consecutive starts, matching the longest streak of his career, before Wednesday night. The 26-year-old right-hander allowed three runs, six hits and struck out eight in six innings.
Correia limited the Rays to three singles and Escobar's second-inning sacrifice fly until James Loney singled to open the sixth. Johnson, in the lineup because of history of success against the Minnesota starter, followed with his fifth home run in 25 career at-bats against Correia.
NOTES: Evan Longoria went 1 for 4 with an infield single, two walks and a pair of strikeouts. The Tampa Bay star is 6 for 44 with no extra-base hits over his last 14 games -- the longest extra-base hit drought of his career. ... Johnson went 2 for 3 against Correia and is 9 for 25 lifetime against the right-hander. ... Florimon's homer was his first since June 9 at Washington. ... Since being promoted from Triple-A Durham for the second time this season on June 1, Rays LHP Alex Torres leads all American League relievers who've worked a minimum of 15 innings with an 0.42 ERA. He's allowed one eerned run in last 21 2-3 innings, while limiting opposing hitters to an .085 batting average. ... Tampa Bay RHP Alex Cobb, out since being hit in the right ear by a line drive on June 15, is scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Thursday. ... Minnesota 1B Justin Morneau singled in the ninth for his 1,276th career hit, tying Gary Gaetti for seventh on the Twins' all-time list.

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