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Devil Rays overcome late deficit in rare win over Twins

May 3, 2007 - 4:50 AM ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- Sometimes late is better than never when a team has as much trouble beating the Minnesota Twins as do the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Elijah Dukes and Ty Wigginton sparked a two-out comeback in the bottom of the ninth as the Devil Rays downed the Twins, 4-3, in 10 innings Wednesday in the second of a three-game series.

Dukes, following a walk to Brendan Harris to lead off the ninth and with Tampa Bay trailing, 3-1, delivered an RBI single off Twins closer Joe Nathan to plate Harris and narrow the deficit to 3-2.

Following a single by Carl Crawford, Wigginton lined a single to left to score Dukes with the tying run and push the game to extra innings.

After an uneventful 10th inning from Devil Rays closer Al Reyes (1-0), Matt Guerrier (0-1) came on to relieve Nathan, who blew his first save opportunity in eight chances this season.

Guerrier, who subsequently allowed a single to Carlos Pena and a double to Harris, got Dioner Navarro to hit a grounder to shortstop but pinch runner Ben Zobrist beat the throw to home plate to give the Devil Rays a thrilling 4-3 victory.

"It was a unusual conclusion," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "They're making me schizophrenic. I'll say one thing, they kept battling and fought back against one of the best closers in baseball."

"I was just trying to get a good pitch and fortunately I hit it to the right spot," Navarro said. "I did get it done. That was one of the weirdest games I've seen."

Zobrist could have ended the contest one batter early. With Zobrist on first, Brendan Harris doubled to left field, but Zobrist, who would have scored easily, tripped rounding third.

"I felt bad for Harris because he had the game-winning RBI," Zobrist said. "I would have felt terrible if we didn't end up winning. That was the first time I tripped over third base and you all got to see it.

"(Jonny) Gomes told me, 'Congrats, you'll be on the highlights of people tripping for 100 years.' You just have to laugh at it."

Zobrist's stumble around third brought Navarro to the plate.

"What did I think when he (Zobrist) fell?" Navarro said. "Oh (shoot), I've got to hit."

The victory put a halt to a rather dubious skid for Tampa Bay, which had dropped 17 of its last 20 games against Minnesota.

"These guys have been my kryptonite," Nathan said. "They've got a great lineup. Obviously, they can score runs. You've got to make pitches. I left some balls up to them and they did what they're supposed to do."

Torii Hunter hit a two-run homer in the second to extend his major league-leading hitting streak to a career-high 17 games.

Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire was ejected by first base umpire Angel Hernandez in the bottom of the fifth inning for arguing a close call at first base as Wigginton barely beat out an inning-ending double play for the Devil Rays' first run.

"(It's) a disappointing loss for us," Gardenhire said. "We actually played a good ballgame. You get your closer in the game, usually you win these ballgames. Funny things happen in domes and it got to us tonight."

Michael Cuddyer, who left Tuesday's series opener in the seventh inning with a bruised back, was scratched from the starting lineup prior to the game, ending his consecutive games-played streak at 135. He remains day-to-day.