MINNEAPOLIS — The Rays got walked off for a second straight day Saturday, losing 6-5 to the Twins.
Brooks Lee delivered the game-winning run on a squeeze bunt down the first-base line, scoring Byron Buxton from third.
The bullpen let the Rays down for a second straight day.
Friday, relievers Edwin Uceta and Garrett Cleavinger teamed to blow a 3-1 lead in the seventh, then Kevin Kelly gave up a walkoff homer in the ninth.
Saturday, Kelly quickly blew a 5-1 lead in the sixth, and then Cleavinger allowed the deciding run.
He walked Buxton to open the ninth after being ahead in the count 0-2, then gave up a single to Willi Castro that sent Buxton to third. Lee pushed a bunt down the first-base line that Yandy Diaz couldn’t make a play on and had to hope rolled foul, but it didn’t.
Second baseman Brandon Lowe said the combination of Buxton’s speed and Lee’s placement made it tough.
“Yandy did everything right, charged in hard, saw where the bunt was and let it go by him,” Lowe said. “I couldn’t see how close it was to going foul, but it felt really close. Just a well-executed bunt.”
The loss was the Rays’ sixth in their last eight games and dropped them to 48-41. It was their first back-to-back walkoff losses since July 8-9, 2022 at Cincinnati.
The Rays got a solid start from Taj Bradley and took a 5-1 advantage into the sixth before Kelly blew the lead.
Kelly was summoned after Bradley gave up back to back, one-out singles then struck out Matt Wallner on his 88th pitch.
Kelly quickly made a mess, allowing four runs in a span of four pitches.
Royce Lewis laced the second pitch he saw for a 106 mph single to center that scored one run. Kody Clemens then jumped on his second pitch from Kelly for a three-run homer that tied the score 5-5.
The Rays built their lead inning by inning against a parade of Twins pitchers on a bullpen day.
They got one in the third when Chandler Simpson singled with one out and raced home on a double by Danny Jansen.
They got another in the fourth when Jonathan Aranda doubled with one out and scored when Josh Lowe shot a two-out pitch down the leftfield line for a double.
They got two in the fifth after Simpson led off with a bunt single and went to third on a Jansen single. Diaz scored Simpson on a sacrifice fly. Brandon Lowe then singled — tying Diaz’s franchise-record hitting streak at 20 games — to send Jansen to third. Junior Caminero hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Jansen.
The Rays got a run in the sixth to make it 5-1. Jake Mangum singled, went to second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on Taylor Walls’ single and scored on Simpson’s sacrifice fly.
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Bradley worked 5 ⅔ innings, charged with the three runs but allowing just one when he was in the game. He struck out five and walked one.
Sunday: at Twins
2:10, Target Field, Minneapolis
Pitchers: Rays — RH Drew Rasmussen (7-5, 2.78); Twins — RH Joe Ryan (8-4, 2.75)
TV/radio: FanDuel Sports Sun; 95.3-FM, 620-AM, 106.7-FM (Spanish)
Info: raysbaseball.com
On deck
Monday: at Tigers, 6:40. Rays, RH Shane Baz (8-3, 4.33); Tigers, RH Jack Flaherty (5-9, 4.84)
Tuesday: at Tigers, 6:40. Rays, RH Ryan Pepiot (6-6, 3.34); Tigers, LH Dietrich Enns (1-1, 7.00)
Wednesday: at Tigers, 1:10. Rays, RH Zack Littell (7-7, 3.50); Tigers, RH Reese Olson (4-3, 2.89)
Thursday: at Red Sox, 7:10. Rays, RH Taj Bradley (5-6, 4.79); Red Sox, TBA
Friday: at Red Sox, 7:10. Rays, RH Drew Rasmussen (7-5, 2.78); Red Sox, TBA
Saturday: at Red Sox, 4:10. Rays, RH Shane Baz (8-3, 4.33): Red Sox, TBA
July 13: at Red Sox, 1:35. Rays, RH Ryan Pepiot (6-6, 3.34); Red Sox, TBA
July 14-17: All-Star break