Inside The Rays

Gameday Preview (Saturday): Taylor Walls Back at Shortstop For Rays in Game 2 With Twins

Ha-Seong Kim is out with a calf injury one day after his first day in the Tampa Bay lineup after shoulder surgery. Taylor Walls is back at shortstop. Here are the batting orders, plus updates on Kim and Rays pitcher Taj Bradley. Tiwns using an opener.
Tom Brew|
Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Taylor Walls (6) throws the ball to first base for an out last week during a game in Tampa.
Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Taylor Walls (6) throws the ball to first base for an out last week during a game in Tampa. | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

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Minnesota TwinsTampa Bay Rays

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Tampa Bay Rays have lost five of their past seven games, and they hope to turn things around on Saturday when they take on the Minnesota Twins in the second game of a three-game weekend set.

Taylor Walls is back at shortstop for the Rays, a day after Ha-Seong Kim came off the injured list and played for the first time on Friday. But he left he game in the seventh inning with a calf injury, and is day-to-day now.

“We'll see,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said Saturday when asked when Kim might be ready to play. “It's going to be day to day. I think, with our roster and the versatility, we should be OK. Unfortunately, you feel for him, because he worked so hard to get back, but we'll just see how treatment goes and go from there.”

Taj Bradley has been up and down the past month or so, and he needs a big outing on Saturday. He's been working on things with pitching coach Kyle Snyder and is hoping to replicate his start on June 24 in Kansas City, where he pitched 6 2./3 scoreless innings and allowed just two hits.

Bradley said it's more about fine-tuning things than doing a complete overhaul.

“Just still hitting on the same stuff we did,” Bradley told reporters on Friday. “You don’t want to get too forward and just think that you need to change the whole thing and get a whole new wardrobe going. Just the simple things.

"It takes time for things to come to fruition, and stuff like that. Just do everything you need to do in between the starts and stuff we’ve been working on to get me going well.”

The Twins are using an opener on Saturday, giving the ball to reliever Cole Sands first. He is 3-3 with a 4.63 earned run average so far in 35 innings. His season high in pitches in a game is 31.

Here's how to watch Saturday's game:

How to watch Rays-Twins

  • Who: Tampa Bay Rays (48-40) at Minnesota Twins (42-46)
  • When: Saturday, July 5 at 2:10 p.m. ET
  • Where: Target Field, Minneapolis, Minn.
  • TV: FanDuel Sports Sun
  • Radio: WDAE 95.3 FM/620 AM, WQBN 106.7/1300 AM (Spanish)
  • Betting information: The Twins are favored on the money line at HardRockBet.com at minus-110, and the Rays' money line odds are the same at minus-105. On the run line, you can bet the Rays minus-1.5 at plus-130 odds, and the Twins plus-1.5 runs at minus-165 odds. The over/under is 9.5 runs.

Here are the starting lineups for both teams:

Rays batting order

  1. Yandy Diaz 1B
  2. Brandon Lowe 2B
  3. Junior Caminero 3B
  4. Jonathan Aranda DH
  5. Jake Mangum LF
  6. Josh Lowe RF
  7. Taylor Walls SS
  8. Chandler Simpson CF
  9. Danny Jansen C

Twins batting order

  1. Byron Buxton CF
  2. Willi Castro 2B
  3. Trevor Larnach DH
  4. Carlos Correa SS
  5. Ryan Jeffers C
  6. Matt Wallner RF
  7. Royce Lewis 3B
  8. Kody Clemens1B
  9. Harrison Bader LF

Related Rays Stories

  • RAYS' HA-SEONG KIM HAS DEBUT CUT SHORT BY INJURY: Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Ha-Seong Kim finally got to join the team in their series opener against the Minnesota Twins after months of rehabbing a shoulder injury. In the top of the seventh inning, his debut took a scary turn. CLICK HERE
  • TWINS BEAT RAYS WITH WALK-OFF HOMER: Minnesota left fielder Harrison Bader hit two home runs — including a walk-off winner in the ninth inning — to help the Twins come back to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 Friday. The Rays' bullpen, usually solid, let a two-run lead slip away. CLICK HERE
  • RAYS 2025 SCHEDULE: Here is the complete 2025 Tampa Bay Rays schedule, with dates, locations, game times and more, including results in real time. CLICK HERE
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Tom Brew
TOM BREW

Tom Brew is the publisher of ''Tampa Bay Rays on SI'' and has been with the Sports Illustrated platform since 2019. He has worked at some of America's finest newspapers, including the Tampa Bay Times, Indianapolis Star and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He owns eight sites on the "On SI'' network and has written four books.

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