Left-hander Scott Diamond and the Minnesota Twins could not avoid another loss against Tampa Bay on Sunday afternoon at Target Field, as a big 10th inning helped the Rays pull off the three-game series sweep with a 7-3 win.
Diamond was bested by a pair of solo home runs in the first two innings by Desmond Jennings and Jeff Keppinger, and settled down before yielding a game-tying RBI double to Sean Rodriguez in the fifth that knotted the score at three apiece.
The two teams played even ball until the top of the tenth, whereby Twins reliever Alex Burnett walked a pair of batters and allowed three runs to cross the plate before he could retire the side. In addition to leaving 10 runners on base in the loss, Minnesota picked up a bit of potentially awful news as outfielder Denard Span left the game in the seventh inning with an apparent shoulder injury.
Hopeful to return the services of third baseman Trevor Plouffe, currently in Triple-A on a rehab assignment, on Monday to open up tricky three-game set with the Detroit Tigers, the Twins will send undefeated starter Samuel Deduno to the hill looking to break the losing streak.
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