ST. PETERSBURG — The Twins’ bullpen has been reshaped in recent weeks, as they look to find the best group of arms to push them towards the playoffs.

But for much of the year, Jorge Alcala, Cole Sands, Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran have formed the core of the bullpen, serving as reliable pieces near the end of games.

That group, plus Ronny Henriquez, helped the Twins capture their second straight win, this one a 5-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night at Tropicana Field, after it was pressed into duty early.

Starter Simeon Woods Richardson’s night ended early — after just 3 2/3 innings — at which point Alcala entered to extract him from a jam with a runner in scoring position.

Woods Richardson gave up three runs in his short start on six hits, allowing the Rays to take the lead in the first inning after the Twins had jumped out to a lead of their own in the top half of the inning on a Royce Lewis RBI double.

Two innings later, Woods Richardson gave up another run, cutting into the Twins’ lead, which they retook in the second inning on Trevor Larnach’s line drive home run to right field, which came off the bat at 112.5 miles per hour.

While the Rays pulled back within a run, Larnach’s home run wound up giving the Twins a lead that the bullpen would successfully protect for the rest of the game.

Alcala (4-3) wound up throwing 1 1/3 innings, working around some trouble of his own in the fifth inning. Henriquez threw a clean sixth inning and Jax struck out two facing the heart of the order in the seventh inning.

Sands handled the eighth inning, giving up a home run to Jonny DeLuca, the only run the group gave up in its collective 5 1/3 innings pitched, before Duran nailed down his 21st save of the season.

The group got slightly more breathing room in the top of eighth inning when switch-hitting rookie Brooks Lee, back from the injured list a day earlier, hit the first right-handed home run of his career. It was the Twins’ first run since the second inning.

Related Articles

Twins’ Royce Lewis learning, adjusting on the fly

Twins expand roster to 28, bring back Brooks Lee

Royce Lewis’ late heroics lift Twins to victory over Blue Jays

Blue Jays chase Zebby Matthews early in 15-0 victory over Twins

Twins’ Royce Lewis battling through first real hitting slump