Rays 4, Twins 3
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Matt Moore scattered three hits through 7 1/3 innings and Luke Scott and Evan Longoria hit back-to-back home runs to lift the Tampa Bay Rays to a 4-3 victory against the Minnesota Twins on Thursday at Tropicana Field.
Scott and Longoria connected in the sixth inning off Minnesota starter Mike Pelfrey (4-7) for a 3-1 lead. The Rays added a critical insurance run in the seventh on a triple by Ben Zobrist and a Wil Myers single off reliever Josh Roenicke.
Moore didn't allow a baserunner until Joe Mauer drew a walk with two down in the fourth inning. Brian Dozier got the first hit off the left-hander with a two-out double in the sixth.
Jamey Carroll followed with a game-tying single that snapped a string of 22-1/3 scoreless innings pitched by Moore, the fourth-longest in club history.
Moore (13-3) was lifted after walking Clete Thomas and giving up a one-out single by Pedro Florimon. Relief pitcher Alex Torres retired Dozier on a fly ball, and walked pinch-hitter Ryan Doumit to load the bases.
Mauer closed the book on Moore while chasing Torres with a single that made it 4-3. Joel Peralta took over and struck out Trevor Plouffe to protect the lead.
Tampa Bay opened in the scoring with a run on three hits in the third. Sean Rodriguez, Matt Joyce and Myers hit consecutive one-out singles off Pelfrey, who evaded further damage by getting Scott to ground into a double play.
Myers collected three hits and James Loney added two to pace the 10-hit attack for Tampa Bay.
Moore, who was named to the All-Star team as an injury replacement for Yu Darvish after the game, struck out 10 batters and walked two en route to his fifth consecutive victory.
Pelfrey (4-7) allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings. The right-hander struck out five batters and walked none.
Jake McGee pitched a perfect ninth for his first save after blowing four other opportunities.
NOTES: The Twins are 1-10 this month and have dropped 11 of 12 since June 30. ... The Rays have swept back-to-back series and won eight consecutive games - the longest active streak in the majors - and 12 of their last 13. They had not been swept the Twins in a four-game set at home since Aug. 10-13, 2001. ... Minnesota once won 14 games in a row against Tampa Bay, but the Rays have prevailed in the last nine meetings to even the all-time series at 60 victories apiece. ... Tampa Bay will enter the All-Star break having played 16 of its last 20 games at Tropicana Field. The Rays are 14-3 with three home games against the Astros remaining in that stretch. ... Minnesota placed LHP Caleb Thielbar on the bereavement list after the death of his grandmother.
