ARLINGTON, TX (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.”
Arraez tripled to deep center field 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 Ryan Jeffers got a free pass with the bases loaded. Demarcus Evans took over and walked Alex Krilloff to force in another run.
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 when he pulled a towering 429-foot blast into the right-field seats with two outs in the fifth to snap a 3-3 tie. Rangers starter Mike Folytnewicz immediately bent down and frustratingly swiped at the dirt on the mound without ever turning to watch the ball.
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.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Third baseman Josh Donaldson (right calf tightness) and shortstop 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. … Centerfielder 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.”
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