MINNEAPOLIS _ Max Kepler was hit on the right elbow by a pitch and had to come out of Tuesday's game. That unfortunate event limited the Twins' outfield to just seven hits on the night.
Eddie Rosario, on the eve of All-Star Election Day, made his case with four hits in his first four at-bats, while Willians Astudillo, an All-Star in the hearts of Target Field's fan base, collected three in his first three trips to the plate, and the Twins battered the reigning Cy Young winner. Minnesota pounded Tampa Bay left-hander Blake Snell with more hits than outs, scored seven times in his 3 1/3 innings, and beat the Rays 9-4.
Coupled with the Indians' 8-6 loss to the Royals, the Twins extended their Central Division lead to 8 { games.
Snell, whose ERA was 3.06 entering June, saw that number reach 5.01 as the Twins put together back-to-back three-run innings in his brief appearance. The Rays left-hander, a narrow Cy Young winner over Houston's Justin Verlander last season, gave up 11 hits, one walk and a 400-foot home run to Jonathan Schoop.
Rosario and Astudillo, fellow outfielders because of a rash of injuries that have already sidelined Byron Buxton and Marwin Gonzalez, did much of the damage. Rosario stretched a single into a hustle double in the second inning, and scored when Astudillo blistered Snell's first pitch to him up the middle for an infield single. Then Rosario proceeded to collect singles in three of the next four innings, two of them driving in runs.
Not to be outdone, Astudillo doubled to lead off the fourth inning, eventually scoring on Mitch Garver's bases-loaded single to center, and lined his third hit of the night into left field immediately after Kepler's injury in the fifth inning. Astudillo, starting in right field for only the third time in his career, even provided a defensive highlight by colliding with the padded foul-line wall as he caught Travis d'Arnaud's foul ball. Astudillo fell to the ground and took a moment to collect himself, but held up the ball triumphantly as the Target Field crowd _ and starter Kyle Gibson, standing on the mound _ applauded.
Snell was finished early for the second straight start, just the latest former Cy Young winner to be belted around by the Twins this season. Corey Kluber, Jake Arrieta, Jacob deGrom and Verlander already have suffered that fate this season, but none seemed as overmatched as Snell, whose retired only one Yankees batter in his previous start. The Twins strung together five hits in the third inning, and five more in the fourth, four off Snell.
Kyle Gibson was the beneficiary of the Twins' offense, holding the Rays scoreless for five innings on only one hit as the Twins built an eight-run lead. Shortstop Willy Adames broke the spell to lead off the sixth inning, sailing a 1-1 fastball into the bullpens for his eighth home run.
Tampa Bay then put together a three-run rally in the seventh inning to knock Gibson out of the game. With two outs, Michael Brosseau doubled home two runs, and Brandon Lowe tripled Brosseau home.
Kepler was tagged on the right elbow by Tampa Bay reliever Hunter Wood in the fifth inning, and after being examined by head athletic trainer Tony Leo and manager Rocco Baldelli, left the game and headed to the clubhouse. His condition was not known.
