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Casilla, Everett rally Twins past Rays

Sep 19, 2008 - 6:01 AM ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- With their playoffs lives in the balance, the Minnesota Twins scored five runs in the ninth inning to rally for an 11-8 victory against the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday.

Trailing, 8-6, Alexi Casilla tied the game with a two-run homer and pinch-hitter Adam Everett laced an RBI double to give the Twins the lead. Delmon Young added an RBI single off Dan Wheeler (5-6), who failed to record an out in the ninth.

"I couldn't have put it in a better spot for him," Wheeler said of Casilla's home run.

The home run was Casilla's seventh of the season.

"I was trying to hit the ball into the hole," Casilla said. "Yeah, I was surprised it went out, but I've been hitting the ball well."

The win pushed Minnesota (83-70) to within 1 1/2 games of the Chicago White Sox (84-68) in the American League Central.

"This was a much needed win," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We fell behind, but our guys didn't quit. This is a huge win for this baseball team after going through a tough trip up to this point."

The Twins spoiled a record night for Evan Longoria, who became only the second player in Rays franchise history to hit three home runs in a game.

"I don't know how many times you see a guy hit three home runs and lose that particular game," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "That might be a first."

"They made some mistakes," Longoria said. "As a good hitter in this league, if they make mistakes, you've got to make them pay. They just threw them in and I hit 'em."

The loss keeps the Rays' magic number at three to clinch their first playoff berth and 10 to win the AL East. Tampa Bay (90-61) watched its lead erode to 1 1/2 games over the idle Boston Red Sox (89-63).

Besides Longoria's three homers, fellow All-Star Dioner Navarro had a two-run blast and Carlos Pena hit a solo homer, his 30th of the season.

"That's a good team, an exciting team," Gardenhire said. "We have to find a way to keep them in the park."

Eddie Guardado (4-4) got the win for the Twins and Joe Nathan recorded his 37th save.

The Twins took a 3-0 first-inning lead on Jason Kubel's three-run homer, but lefthander Glen Perkins could not make it out of the first.

"We came out big in the first inning and then I gave up the lead," Perkins said. "It's frustrating, but our guys battled. It's a huge win after losing four straight games."

Perkins allowed five runs and five hits - all coming after two outs - including home runs to Longoria and Navarro as Tampa Bay took a 5-3 lead. Only two of the first-inning runs were earned.

"That was an oddity tonight," Maddon said. "Normally, when we get to that point in the game, we figure out how to win it. They took it away from us tonight."

Joe Mauer had three hits and three RBI for the Twins, who ended a four-game losing streak.