Rangers blow 6-run lead, lose to Twins 10-7
Max Kepler of the Twins dives for home plate to score a run as Robinson Chirinos of the Rangers waits for the throw during the seventh inning at Globe Life Park in Arlington on August 31, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Jake Cave hit a tiebreaking homer in an eight-run fifth inning that erased a six-run deficit, sending the Minnesota Twins to a 10-7 victory over the Texas Rangers on Friday night.
Tyler Austin started the fifth with his 15th home run and Mitch Garver's three-run double pulled the Twins even after Nomar Mazara's 435-foot drive for a three-run shot had given the Rangers a 6-0 lead in the fourth.
Cave's eighth homer in his rookie season was a two-run shot off pulled into the right-field seats in a lefty-lefty matchup against reliever Matt Moore (3-7).
Matt Magill (3-2) and three other Minnesota relievers combined to strike out nine in 4 1/3 scoreless innings to help hand the Rangers their fifth straight loss.
Trevor May fanned four of the five he faced in the seventh and eighth. Trevor Hildenberger allowed a run without a hit in the ninth.
Garver added an RBI double in the seventh, had three hits and reached on a three-base error in the ninth when Carlos Tocci dropped a fly ball as he was crashing into the wall in center field.
Handed the big lead on Mazara's 17th homer , Drew Hutchison didn't retire any of the four batters he faced in the fifth. Jorge Polanco ended his night with a two-run double . The right-hander has an 8.86 ERA in five starts for Texas.
Minnesota left-hander Stephen Gonsalves, looking for his first big league win in his third start, didn't make it out of the fourth inning. The 24-year-old allowed six hits and six runs - three earned - with no strikeouts and four walks in 3 2/3 innings.
Martin Perez made his first relief appearance for Texas since he was a rookie in 2012. The left-hander pitched two scoreless innings two days after he was taken out of the rotation with a 6.95 ERA in 13 starts.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Twins: Manager Paul Molitor said he didn't expect LF Eddie Rosario to play the rest of this nine-game road trip after leaving Thursday's 5-3 loss at Cleveland with tightness in his right quadriceps muscle. The trip ends Wednesday in Houston. ... Polanco was back in the lineup at shortstop after missing the three-game series against the Indians with a strained left hamstring.
Rangers: Manager Jeff Banister said RHP Bartolo Colon (lower back strain) is the likely starter Sunday. The 45-year-old was eligible to come off the disabled list Friday.
UP NEXT
Twins RHP Jose Berrios (11-9, 3.74 ERA) had a career-high 12 strikeouts in seven shutout innings in his previous start against Texas. Rangers RHP Yovani Gallardo (7-3, 6.01) is winless in his past three starts. Gallardo won seven of his first nine starts after rejoining one of his former teams in June.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports