Jorge Polanco had a triple, double and two RBIs, while right-hander Kenta Maeda struck out eight over 5 1/3 innings, as the Minnesota Twins held on for a 6-5 victory Monday over the visiting Texas Rangers.
Alex Kirilloff doubled twice, scored three times and drove in a run as the Twins won for the fourth time in five games following a stretch where they lost eight of nine games, with three games postponed in that run because of COVID-19 considerations.
Adolis Garcia and Joey Gallo hit two-run homers for the Rangers, while right-hander Dane Dunning (1-2) gave up three runs (two earned) over 5 2/3 innings to absorb his second loss in 13 career starts.
Dunning was unable to match Maeda (2-2), who gave up just two hits along with two walks and was removed after throwing 94 pitches. Maeda’s solid outing came after he gave up a combined 12 runs in consecutive outings against the Oakland Athletics and Cleveland Indians.
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Twins left-hander Taylor Rogers gave up Gallo’s two-run shot in the ninth inning but still earned his second save.
The Twins took an early 2-0 lead on a pair of unconventional runs. In the second inning, Kirilloff was trying to advance to third on a Polanco fly ball and ended up scoring when right fielder Joey Gallo overthrew third base trying to cut down Krilloff after making the catch.
Luis Arraez scored in the third inning after a Josh Donaldson double, but only after the play at the plate was overturned on replay. Arraez was called out after he tangled with Rangers catcher Jose Trevino on his slide, but the play was overturned because Trevino never applied a tag.
The Twins made it 5-0 in the sixth inning on a Kirilloff RBI double, Polanco’s RBI triple and a run-scoring single from Max Kepler.
The Rangers finally sliced into the Twins’ advantage in the eighth inning on a two-run home run from Garcia, his sixth of the season. Charlie Culberson added an RBI ground out in the inning.
Gallo’s late home run was his third.
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–Field Level Media