ST. PETERSBURG, Florida -- Justin Morneau and Matt
LeCroy continued their hot hitting, while the Minnesota Twins
continued to dominate the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
Morneau had four hits and three RBIs and LeCroy homered and drove
in three runs as the Twins completed a three-game sweep of the
Devil Rays with a 9-6 triumph.
Since missing 13 games in April with a concussion, Morneau has
batted .451 with six homers and 20 RBIs in 13 contests.
"When you feel hot like this, you definitely don't want it to
end," Morneau said. "You keep looking for the things that are
working. I guess I'll have to get hit in the head more often."
With the Twins clinging to a 2-1 lead in the sixth, Morneau
increased the edge with an RBIs triple against Devil Rays starter
Doug Waechter. Following a walk to Lew Ford and a flyout by
Jacque Jones, LeCroy blasted Waechter's 1-1 offering over the
center field wall for his fifth homer.
"I threw a fastball down the middle and the guy hit it a mile,"
Waechter said of LeCroy, who is hitting .324 (11-for-34) with
four homers in his last 12 games.
Morneau completed his offensive display the following frame with
a two-run bloop single to left field that gave the Twins an 8-1
cushion.
"We're glad to see (Morneau) back," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire
said. "Obviously, you can see what he means to this lineup.
With him in the middle, it changes our whole game plan."
Morneau's hit placed the Devil Rays on the verge of a third
consecutive embarrassing loss, but Tampa Bay - which lost the
first two games of the series by a combined 15-2 margin - did
not roll over in this one.
The Devil Rays chased Twins starter Joe Mays in the seventh as
four of the first five batters recorded hits. Jorge Cantu
capped the inning with a three-run homer against reliever Terry
Mulholland that sliced the deficit to 8-6.
Minnesota's Joe Mauer responded with a solo homer in the ninth,
and Joe Nathan worked around a leadoff walk to notch his ninth
save in 10 opportunities.
"We have several of us pounding the ball and seeing the ball
right now," Mauer said. "It's producing a lot of results for
our pitchers."
Mays (2-1) picked up the win despite allowing five runs and
seven hits in 6 1/3 innings.
"He kind of ran out of gas," Gardenhire said. "But we will take
that kind of performance on the mound anytime."
Waechter (1-2) surrendered six runs, eight hits and four walks
in 5 1/3 innings.
"I felt like I had to battle all day," Waechter said. "I didn't
feel like myself. They're a good hitting lineup and they have
a solid team. What an impressive lineup."