Twins leave Tampa Bay with a win to set up huge showdown with Royals

Eddy Julien homered for the first time since April to fuel a big win for the Twins.

Sep 5, 2024; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Minnesota Twins pitcher Pablo Lopez (49) throws a pitch against the Tampa Bay Rays in the first inning at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

After two straight disappointing performances in Tampa Bay, the Twins were desperate for a win on Thursday. Home runs from Edouard Julien and Matt Wallner just what Minnesota needed to leave with a 4-3 victory.

Julien opened up the scoring in the second inning with a three-run home run, his first since April 25. The Twins had four hits in the inning and grabbed onto a 3-0 lead.

Edouard Julien is hitting .313 over his last 15 games. His ABs look much better

Is he back?!#MNTwins
pic.twitter.com/fzb1LWeeJT

— Twins Talk (@LetsTalk_Twins) September 5, 2024

Wallner quickly joined in the third inning with a 357-foot solo shot, extending the lead to 4-0.

Twins starting pitcher Pablo Lopez carried a streak of nearly 23 scoreless innings into the bottom of the third inning until a two-run single from Rays star rookie Junior Caminero broke the streak and put Tampa Bay within striking distance at 4-2.

After allowing an RBI ground-rule double to Rays first-baseman Yandy Diaz in the bottom of the seventh, Lopez was replaced by reliever Griffin Jax. Lopez finished with nine strikeouts after allowing seven hits and three earned runs in 6.2 innings.

Jax added 1.1 scoreless innings and struck out two, setting the stage for Jhoan Duran strike out two in a 1-2-3 ninth for his 22nd save of the season.

The win gets the Twins to 76-64, just four games behind Cleveland in the AL Central and a half-game in front of third-place Kansas City.

Minnesota will travel to Kansas City for a pivotal three-game series starting at 7:10 p.m. CT Friday.