ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Minnesota Twins are starting to get comfortable in extra innings.
Luis Arraez hit an RBI triple to start the Minnesota 10th and the Twins then drew two bases-loaded walks to beat the Texas Rangers 7-5 on Friday night in the opener of a three-game series matching last-place teams.
“When I hit the ball, I wanted three (bases),” Arraez said. “I’m ready for that moment. Prepared my mind that I needed to move the runner.”
over the head of Adolis García, whose homer in the Texas seventh had tied the game at 4-4, and Willians Astudillo rumbled home from second base. The Twins have won three consecutive extra-inning games since losing their first eight this season.
Josh Sborz (3-3), the sixth Texas pitcher, then struck out two but also had three walks, including an intentional pass to slugger Nelson Cruz before
“That was probably the most frustrating part of the game is we gave them the game. Literally, we handed them a win by walking to those two guys,” Texas manager Chris Woodward said. “Getting one run in that scenario with a runner on second and nobody out is what we tell our pitchers, it's OK. It's kind of expected in that situation."
Hansel Robles (3-3) worked a perfect ninth before Tyler Duffey worked the 10th for his second save, allowing a one-out bloop RBI single to Joey Gallo.
Minnesota, at the bottom of the AL Central standings, has won consecutive games for only the second time this month. The AL West last-place Rangers have lost 17 of their last 20 games, and are 9-27 overall since leaving Minnesota after three consecutive wins there the first week of May.
Trevor Larnach had a no-doubt homer for the Twins
Arraez drew a walk to start the game, and the Twins loaded the bases with no outs before jumping ahead 3-0. Cruz had an RBI single before Max Kepler drove in a run on a fielder’s choice in his first at-bat after missing 17 games with a left hamstring strain.
“It was a good day in a lot of a different ways up and down the lineup. It took a lot of good at-bats to get where we needed to be tonight,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli. “We didn't lean on anyone to carry the load and drive in all the runs or anything like that. But we had a lot of guys out there just kind of grinding it out up and down all night.”
SHORT HOPS
García’s two-out solo shot in the seventh off reliever Jorge Alcalá was his 17th of the season, but first in 72 at-bats over 19 games since last going deep May 26. García broke a Rangers rookie record for the most homers before the All-Star break, breaking a tie with Pete Incaviglia’s 16 in 1986. ... Texas is 7-4 in extra innings, 4-1 at home. ... The Twins hadn't had a go-ahead triple in extra innings since Joe Mauer at Seattle on April 26, 2015.
FOR STARTERS
Twins right-hander José Berríos remained stuck on his career-best streak of five consecutive winning decisions, those coming over nine starts since the start of May. The right-hander struck out six and walked one while allowing three runs and six hits before departing with a 4-3 lead after six innings.
“We won. That's the most important thing,” Berríos said.
Foltynewicz had four strikeouts and two walks while allowing four runs in five innings.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Twins: 3B Josh Donaldson (right calf tightness) and SS Andrelton Simmons (left ankle tightness) were both out of the lineup after exiting early from the Twins’ previous game Wednesday. Baldelli said Donaldson was also dealing with an upper respiratory issue that affected his sleep the previous two nights. ... CF Byron Buxton ran on the field and worked out before missing his 39th game since May 6 because of a right hip strain, though he could be activated at some point this weekend. Baldelli said Buxton “ultimately had a very good day."
Rangers: OF David Dahl, out since May 26 because of a bruised left rib cage and then some mid-upper back discomfort after going on the injured list, went through a full workout Friday. He will begin a begin a rehab assignment this weekend.
UP NEXT
Randy Dobnak (1-6, 8.38 ERA) starts the middle game of the series for the Twins against 23-year-old lefty Kolby Allard (2-2, 2.91), who is scheduled to make his fourth start in 14 appearances for Texas this season.
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