ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ Everyone has a hand in a playoff push, right? The Twins certainly proved that on Wednesday in their 10-6 victory over Tampa Bay.
Despite losing the first two games of the three-game series, Twins manager Paul Molitor stuck to his playbook. That meant Joe Mauer did not start a day game after a night game.
"We have been pushing Joe fairly hard," Molitor said before the game. "I think we all believe that spreading out his playing time a little bite more this year has helped him stay strong. And hopefully it will enable him to finish strongly."
It also meant he continued to pay strict attention to matchups. So be benched left-handed hitters Eddie Rosario and Max Kepler against Rays starter Blake Snell, who held lefties to a .182 entering the game. The starting lineup _ in a game Brian Dozier said a night before that they needed to win _ included a struggling Kennys Vargas, the recently called up Niko Goodrum and utility man Ehire Adrianza.
Oh, he also had rookie Aaron Slegers on the mound, making his second career appearance.
Molitor sat back and watched it work. And it worked well, even if he did have to call on Mauer as a late-game pinch hitter.
While the Rays came back from one run, three run and two run deficits during the game, the Twins had the final answer, scoring three runs in the seventh inning then, finally, holding off the Rays.
The Twins avoided being swept and head into a four-game series at Kansas City on the upswing.
Eduardo Escobar had three hits and three RBIs. Adrianza had two hits and three RBIs. Dozier hit his 29th homer _ one shy of becoming the fifth Twin to have consecutive seasons of at least 30.
And the bullpen gave up one run over the last five innings.
The Twins pulled into a tie with the Angels for the second wild card spot in the American League, with Los Angeles facing Oakland this afternoon.
Dozier led off the game with a home run, his seventh leadoff homer of the season. But Evan Longoria buried a Slegers pitch into the seats in left _ the first of three game-tying home runs for the Rays.
Adrianza hit a three-run homer in the second to put the Twins ahead 4-1. Slegers got two quick outs in the third, but issued walks to Corey Dickerson and Longoria before Lucas Duda hammered a first pitch fastball over the center field wall to tie the game.
Escobar hit a two-out, two-strike, two-run single to right in the fifth and the Twins were ahead 6-4. On cue, Kevin Kiermaier hit a two run homer off of Buddy Boshers in the bottom of the inning to tie the game. Again.
Then the Twins took the lead for good with three in the seventh.
Dozier led off with a walk, and Jorge Polanco attempted to bunt him over. Rays right-hander Steve Cishek fielded the ball but threw wildly to first. Dozier scored to put the Twins ahead 7-6 and Polanco made it all the way to third. Escobar singled to right to score Polanco. Robbie Grossman doubled, and pinch hitter Mauer was intentionally walked to load the bases. Kepler, pinch hitting, beat out a potential double play grounder, enabling Escobar to score and make it 9-6.
Grossman added a sacrifice fly in the ninth after Escobar tripled. Mauer flew out in his second at-bat, ending a 14-game hitting streak.
The Twins begin a four-game series Thursday night at Kansas City, one of eight teams still in the chase for the two wild-card spots in the American League.
