Royce Lewis gives Twins life, Randy Arozarena takes it away
As fast as Royce Lewis gave the Twins life in the ninth inning, Randy Arozarena took it away by crushing an opposite field, walk-off home run on the second pitch of the night by flame-throwing Minnesota closer Jhoan Duran. Final score: Rays 2, Twins 1.
They're partying in Randy Land.
— MLB (@MLB) June 8, 2023
It's a #walkoff blast for Randy Arozarena! pic.twitter.com/xmxGomRPth
Arozarena's blast sucked the life out of a Twins club that had just three hits all night, including Royce Lewis's game-tying RBI single in the ninth inning to snap a streak of 18 consecutive scoreless innings.
Donovan Solano was hit by a pitch to start the ninth and Max Kepler walked to put runners at first and second with one out. Michael A. Taylor, pinch running for Solano, stole third base to put runners at the corners with one out – and it set the stage for Lewis to tie the game 1-1.
ROYCE TIES THE GAME IN THE 9TH 🥶#MNTwins | #MLB pic.twitter.com/BmIPOpoG2T
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) June 8, 2023
Willi Castro then worked the count full and was hit by a wild slider in his left quad, loading the bases – still with one out – for Ryan Jeffers, who swung at the first pitch and grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Pablo Lopez was outstanding for the Twins, allowing just one one on five hits over seven innings. The only damage against him was a solo homer by Isaac Paredes in the second inning.
The Twins are now on a season worst four-game losing streak and back to .500 (31-31) for the first time this season.
Up next: Twins at Rays, Thursday at 12:10 p.m.
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Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.