On July 6, 2025, pitcher Joe Boyle made a stellar return to the major leagues with the Tampa Bay Rays [1], delivering a dominant five-inning relief performance against the Minnesota Twins. [1, 2, 3]
After being recalled from Triple-A Durham earlier that day, Boyle took over for Drew Rasmussen at Target Field. He gave up just one unearned run on two hits and one walk, while striking out seven batters over five frames. His strong outing in a bulk-relief role kept the Twins in check, putting the Rays in a position to ultimately secure a 7-5 victory in 10 innings. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Watch Joe Boyle dominate the Twins' lineup during his stellar 2025 return to the big leagues:
Joe Boyle strikes out seven in relief vs. Twins | 07/06/2025
MLB.com · Jul 6, 2025
Key Highlights from the Game
Yandy Díaz
On July 6, 2025, Tampa Bay Rays infielder/DH Yandy Díaz played a pivotal role in a 7-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins [1, 2]. He hit a clutch, go-ahead RBI double in the 10th inning at Target Field to help the Rays avoid a three-game series sweep. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Game Performance Breakdown
  • Result: Rays 7, Twins 5 (10 innings)
  • At-Bats: 4
  • Hits: 2
  • RBIs: 1 (deciding run)
  • Extra-Base Hits: 1 double 
Key Inning
Tied at 4-4 in the 10th, Díaz stepped up with a runner on base and hit a sharp double into the gap to score the go-ahead run. This ignited a three-run rally for the Rays, putting the game out of reach for the Twins in the bottom of the frame. 

  • The Deciding Inning: After the game was tied 4–4 at the end of the 9th, the Rays broke away with a three-run 10th inning. Yandy Díaz hit a go-ahead RBI double to start the rally.
  • Key Performances:
    • Taylor Walls: Hit a solo home run in the 3rd inning to tie the game at 1–1.
    • Joe Boyle: Recalled earlier that day, he provided five strong relief innings, striking out seven while allowing only one unearned run.
    • Pete Fairbanks: Credited with the win (4–2) after pitching 1.2 innings of relief.

Boyle makes stellar return to big leagues in Rays' finale win


MINNEAPOLIS -- The Rays on Sunday recalled right-hander , the main return in their offseason trade with the A's for Jeffrey Springs. Left-hander  was optioned to Triple-A Durham in a corresponding move.

Boyle had been tearing up Triple-A (1.85 ERA, 96 K's in 73 innings) and was just named both the Rays' Minor League Pitcher of the Month and International League Pitcher of the Month for June. But with Tampa Bay's rotation fully stocked and healthy, he had made only one spot start for the Major League club on April 13, when he was hitless over five-plus innings against the Braves. In Sunday afternoon's 7-5 win over the Twins in 10 innings, Boyle tossed five innings in relief, allowing one unearned run while striking out seven.


Rays closer Pete Fairbanks, who picked up the win on Sunday when Tampa Bay rallied for three runs in the 10th inning, recited the cumulative stats (three unearned runs on two hits and three walks, with 14 strikeouts in 10 frames) for Boyle’s first two outings with the club and shook his head.


“That's pretty good,” Fairbanks said wryly. “You know, I think if you keep on that trend, you might end up with a pretty good career. We're excited to watch the guy throw, and it's always electric whenever he's out there.”


Boyle entered the game in the bottom of the third after the Rays tied it at 1-1 on Taylor Walls’ home run in the top of the frame. In his first inning, Boyle gave up a one-out single to Byron Buxton, followed by a walk to Willi Castro. But he struck out Trevor Larnach and Carlos Correa to end that threat.

Boyle then struck out three of the next six hitters in clean fourth and fifth innings. The only run he gave up came in the sixth inning.

Larnach hit a one-out double -- an opposite-field jam shot that fluttered beyond third baseman Junior Caminero’s reach and landed in the grass in short left field. Boyle struck out Correa again for the second out. Brooks Lee followed with a rocket -- a grounder with an exit velocity of 110.3 mph, the hardest-hit ball of the day. Lee hit it right at second baseman Jose Caballero, but Caballero couldn’t handle the hot shot and was saddled with an error as Larnach scrambled around third and slid home inches ahead of catcher Matt Thaiss’ attempted tag.