Major League Baseball
Minnesota 6, Texas 5
When: 2:10 PM ET, Sunday, August 6, 2017
Where: Target Field, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Temperature: 74°
Umpires: Home - Marty Foster, 1B - Mike Muchlinski, 2B - Ryan Blakney, 3B - Mark Wegner
Attendance: 29056

MINNEAPOLIS -- Five home runs through the first three innings had Sunday's game between the Texas Rangers and Minnesota Twins looking like it was going to be an offensive show.

The home runs stopped and Minnesota found a way to score once more. But the Twins -- specifically two runners -- were almost too late.

Max Kepler, Brian Dozier and Eddie Rosario all homered, but Minnesota beat Texas 6-5 on Sunday thanks to Eduardo Escobar scoring on the third out of an inning.

Robbie Grossman's single off the right-field wall plated the winning run in unlikely fashion. With Escobar at second base, Grossman lined a ball off the wall and tried to stretch a single into a double.

Rangers right fielder Shin-Soo Choo fielded the ball quickly and threw Grossman out at second, but Escobar touched the plate just before the out was recorded. Texas manager Jeff Banister challenged the play, but the umpire's ruling was upheld.

"A little bit of a mistake that we made it so close on the out at second and the tag of home," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "Kind of one of those things that shouldn't happen at this level and we almost got caught there. But we were able to get the run. Bullpen, eight zeroes combined with Jose (Berrios) going through five."

The run made a winner of Berrios (10-5), who allowed five runs, six hits and one walk in five innings. Berrios gave up two homers in the first inning but settled in to last until the fifth.

Matt Belisle pitched a perfect ninth for his first save since Oct. 3, 2012, with the Colorado Rockies. It was the first save situation for the Twins since trading All-Star closer Brandon Kintzler to the Washington Nationals.

"I think that game was kind of a testament to what we've done here all year," Belisle said. "I don't think there's any relent in this clubhouse. Nobody's ever giving up. We may get throttled sometimes, we may put it on some teams, but we've been tremendous -- I think you've all heard it -- of unhooking the trailer of yesterday, no matter what it is. We've also been very good of staying in the fight all nine innings."

Kepler and Dozier hit two-run homers in the second inning after the Rangers built a 5-0 lead in the first. Rosario, hitting in the cleanup spot for the first time, hit his 12th homer an inning later to tie the score.

Austin Bibens-Dirkx (3-2) allowed the winning run in his one inning of relief. Adrian Beltre and Joey Gallo homered for Texas as the teams split the series.

"It's pretty tough," Beltre said. "We come out and get the lead right away, first inning score five runs. We weren't able to keep attacking. We create a couple situations, but we came short. It's a tough one when you start the game winning 5-nothing."

Starter Nick Martinez lasted just four innings, giving up five runs, five hits and two walks. He was staked to a 5-0 lead after Beltre hit a three-run blast for his 10th homer of the year. The Rangers scored in the first inning in each of the four games of the series.

Gallo followed with a towering, two-run shot to the plaza in right field for his 30th homer of the year.

Kepler hit his first homer since July 3, snapping a drought of 24 games and 86 at-bats. Dozier hit his 20th of the season, becoming the ninth player in franchise history to hit 20 homers for four consecutive seasons. Dozier later left the game with an illness.

"They were able to capitalize on mistakes that I made," Martinez said. "They hit them out of the park. They were some pitches that weren't well-executed and they capitalized."

Berrios was able to recover from his rough start, collecting himself during a 32-minute rain delay.

Berrios escaped trouble in the fifth inning when he had runners at second and third with one out. Beltre's ground ball to shortstop was fielded by Jorge Polanco, who threw Choo out at home. Rougned Odor ended the inning with a flyout to right.

"Those are the type of games where people step up and try to find a way to put some zeroes up even though their pitch counts probably going to limit how far they can go," Molitor said of talking to Berrios after the first. "Try to give your team a chance to get back in the game. It's not always going to happen, but I think he responded to that challenge."

Texas was 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

NOTES: Texas 3B Adrian Beltre was hit in the head by a foul ball in the dugout, but the Rangers said he went through a concussion test and passed before returning to the game for his fifth-inning plate appearance. ... Twins 3B Miguel Sano was out of the lineup for the second straight day as he deals with a left-hand contusion. Sano still has soreness and swelling in the hand and could be sent for more tests, but manager Paul Molitor said a stint on the disabled list is "pretty unlikely." ... Minnesota LHP Glen Perkins will head to Double-A Chattanooga to continue his rehab and could be nearing a return to the majors. Perkins hasn't pitched in a major league game since April 11, 2016, before undergoing shoulder surgery. ... Rangers LHP Jake Diekman threw 31 pitches in a live batting practice session on Saturday, but manager Jeff Banister told reporters Sunday that the reliever isn't ready to begin a rehab assignment soon. Diekman has missed the entire season after surgeries for ulcerative colitis.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Texas   Minnesota
Nick Martinez Player Jose Berrios
No Decision W/L Win
4.0 IP 5.0
5 Strikeouts 6
5 Hits 6
11.25 ERA 9.00
Hitting
Texas   Minnesota
Elvis Andrus Player Robbie Grossman
3 Hits 2
0 RBI 1
0 HR 0
5 TB 2
.750 Avg .500
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Texas 7 2 15 .206 13 8 5 1 0 0
Minnesota 7 3 16 .233 10 9 6 3 1 0