Nick Gordon has five RBI, Alex Kirilloff leaves game early as Twins beat Rays 8-2

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Twins broke out in the fourth inning, beating the Tamp Bay Rays 8-2 on Saturday at Charlotte Sports Park. Nick Gorden had five RBI on a three-run homer and two-run triple.

But right fielder/first baseman Alex Kirilloff left in the sixth inning with mild left knee soreness. Manager Rocco Baldelli said Kirilloff walked out of the clubhouse after the game, and medical staff did not find anything structurally wrong. The team will wait to see how Kirilloff feels Sunday before determining if there's a need for imaging or anything else.

"He ran good down the line, and when the ball was hit in the gap, he was kind of long striding it out, not really at 100 percent," Baldelli said. "So you could tell maybe there was something going on, but we got him out of there right away."

Kirilloff had reached first on a fielding error but left the game after running from first to third on Brent Rooker's double. Baldelli said the injury might have happened when he planted his foot on the bag.

Kirilloff was one of the first runs scored Saturday, when he and Gary Sanchez came home on Gordon's three-run homer in the fourth inning. His replacement, Cole Sturgeon, also scored after Kirilloff's exit on a fielding error. Gordon then tripled to score two more runs before coming in himself on Kyle Garlick's ground out.

The Rays' Mike Zunino homered off Jhon Romero in the bottom of that inning. But the Twins responded in the seventh, when Sturgeon's base hit scored Kennie Taylor. Tampa took one more run in the eighth when Blake Hunt tripled and scored on Brett Wisely's ground out.

The Twins are 7-9 in the Grapefruit League.