Twins offer little run support for David Festa in loss to Rays

The Twins couldn't complete a rally in the ninth inning and lost by one run.

Sep 3, 2024; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays catcher Logan Driscoll (41) hits an RBI single for his first career MLB hit during the third inning against the Minnesota Twins at Tropicana Field. / Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Outside of an early Carlos Santana home run, the Twins (75-63) couldn't muster any offense on Tuesday night in a 2-1 loss against the Rays (68-70) at Tropicana Field.

Minnesota looked to have a rally going when Santana and Edouard Julien singled to lead off the ninth against interim Rays closer Edwin Uceta, but they couldn't get the big hit they needed to tie the game. Brooks Lee and Willi Castro struck out against Uceta. Then the Rays went to lefty Garrett Cleavinger against Trevor Larnach and the Twins countered with pinch hitter Christian Vazquez, who bounced out to short to end the game.

Tampa Bay starter Jeffrey Springs allowed just the Santana homer among four total hits over six innings. The Twins left a pair of runners on base in both the second and third innings, but their bats really went cold from that point on. After rookie Michael Helman's first career hit — an infield single — to lead off the fourth, Springs and Drew Rasmussen retired 15 consecutive batters until Santana's single in the ninth.

He didn't get much run support, but rookie David Festa was sharp for the Twins once again. He allowed two runs on five hits and a walk over five innings, striking out seven. Festa had swing-and-miss stuff on Tuesday, generating a career-high 16 whiffs on his 90 pitches. His fastball, slider, and changeup were all effective options that he utilized to miss bats.

The two runs Festa allowed came in the fourth inning and involved some tough luck. After a leadoff single and a walk, the Rays scored on a bloop single from Jonathan Aranda that dropped just in front of Austin Martin in left field. Two batters later, Logan Driscoll gave Tampa Bay the lead when his first career hit deflected off of Carlos Santana's glove. It took a tough short hop, but it's a play Santana — who has been outstanding defensively at first base for the Twins this year — could've made.

First major league hit ✔️
First major league RBI ✔️

Shoutout to the Driscoll cheering section 😝 pic.twitter.com/sj2BhWWoNx

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) September 4, 2024

Festa allowed 12 earned runs in his first 10 major league innings earlier this summer, but he's been great since returning to the rotation in late July. Over his last eight starts, Festa has a 3.13 ERA with 50 strikeouts in 37.1 innings. The 24-year-old is looking like a pitcher who will be a big part of the Twins' rotation for a long time.

Caleb Thielbar, Michael Tonkin, and Diego Castillo combined for three scoreless innings in relief of Festa, but the Twins were never able to get the tying run across the plate. Although Minnesota had won three of their previous four games prior to this one, they've still averaged less than two runs scored over their past six contests.

This four-game series at the Trop is now even at 1-1. The Twins are expected to send Louie Varland to the mound on Wednesday, and red-hot ace Pablo López will pitch the series finale on Thursday.