Matt Joyce helps Tampa Bay Rays annihilate Minnesota Twins 12-6 – MLB Update
Tampa Bay Rays continued their impressive run as they annihilated the Minnesota Twins 12-6 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Friday, August 10 in first game of their three match series of the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season.
Rays absolutely dominated their opponents in all aspects of the game. The offence, in particular, made the most of available opportunities to stack up a huge total on the board. Matt Joyce looked in top form as he connected for a two run home-run in the
first inning to put Tampa Bay 2-0 ahead.
"From the get-go, I think we were pretty excited about our team and the offense that we were going to have," said Joyce. "We've had to deal with a lot of injuries, and gradually we've kind of got some guys back."
Ryan Roberts, Jose Molina and Desmond Jennings used Target Field’s conditions perfectly to stretch Rays’ lead to 5-1. Joyce doubled to deep right-centre and Evan Longoria singled to centre to cap a six run second inning and the Rays raced to an impassable
8-1 lead.
Molina singled to left and B.J. Upton also doubled to deep-left in the sixth to end the game on an extremely bright note for Tampa Bay. For the Twins, Josh Willingham, Joe Mauer, Ryan Doumit, Brian Dozier and Ben Revere made useful contribution with the
bat but the Rays held on to their six run lead comfortably to stay in the crowded wild card race.
"Some people argue that can happen with economics. It can happen within a baseball team, too. So yeah, I like the trickle-down effect," Rays' manager Joe Maddon said. "I think it has impacted the bottom of the batting order, and you know Longo's presence
has made a difference. He's been the spark."
Jeremy Hellickson tossed up five solid innings, giving up just three runs to register his seventh win of the season. Relief pitcher Burke Badenhop allowed three runs in two innings of relief but he held his nerves under pressure.
Twins’ starter Cole De Vries was hit hard as he gave up eight runs on seven hits in just over an innings, taking his third loss of the year.
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