ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ The Twins entered Saturday 2-0 against left-handed starters this season, and manager Paul Molitor believed he had the right lineup to get after Rays lefty Blake Snell.
Molitor left Logan Morrison, who hit his first homer with the Twins on Friday, out of the lineup and started Ehire Adrianza at shortstop, Ryan LaMarre in center field, Mitch Garver behind the plate and Robbie Grossman as the designated hitter. Eddie Rosario and Max Kepler bashed their way in the lineup with big home runs Friday _ Kepler's came against a lefty, at that.
"The few games we have had against left-handed starting pitching we have given some of our lefties opportunities and mix it up the best we can," Molitor said. "It's tough to sit a guy after hitting a grand slam. Kep hit the home run and I feel pretty good about him and put him back in there."
Snell proceeded to shut the Twins down for seven innings. Twins right-hander Kyle Gibson was cruising himself until he suddenly lost it in the seventh. That brought Gabriel Moya out of the bullpen, and he was a disaster. Tyler Kinley wasn't any better in the eighth.
The Twins lost 10-1 to Tampa Bay on Saturday, their first series loss of the season. Suddenly they need Phil Hughes to come to the rescue Sunday and help them avoid being swept by what's expected to be one baseball's worst teams.
The Rays broke open the game with five runs in the seventh inning. Gibson gave up a one-out triple to Joey Wendle and a run-scoring double to Wilson Ramos before being replaced with Moya. Two of the next three hitters were left-handed hitters in Mallex Smith and Denard Span, so it seemed like the right move. But in the minors last season, Moya was tougher on right-handed hitters than left-handed hitters.
Smith singled. Right-handed-hitting Adeiny Hechavarria grounded out. But Span singled up the middle to drive in two runs and put Tampa Bay ahead 5-1.
C.J. Cron then walloped his second two-run homer of the game, giving the Rays a 7-1 lead.
Snell sailed into the seventh inning with a lead because his mix of a 95-mph fastball and curveball was more than the Twins could handle. The Twins scored the first run of the game on Miguel Sano's sacrifice fly in the first inning then failed to get another runner to third base until the seventh _ and stranded him.
The Twins got their first two batters of the eighth on base with the top of the order up, but Brian Dozier struck out and Joe Mauer grounded into a double play.
The game started with Gibson dominating the Rays.
His sinking fastball was working, and he collected nine ground ball outs during the first six innings of the game. The Twins defense sparkled too.
Adrianza, getting the start at short, made three strong plays to his right. His best came with a runner on first in the third inning when he threw out Span from the hole, with Mauer scooping the throw off the ground.
In the fourth, Gibson got all three outs via the groundball. It included Sano barehanding a bouncer by Daniel Robertson when firing a laser to first. Two batters later, Wilson hit a hard grounder down the first-base line that Mauer dived to stop before stepping on first to end the inning.
Gibson, working in concert with his defense, was crisp, effective and efficient as he entered the seventh inning with just 77 pitches thrown. He worked at a quick pace, and the game sped along.
But the offense never showed up. And when Gibson got into trouble in the pivotal seventh, the bullpen couldn't save him.
