ARLINGTON, Texas -The Twins took the first two games of the series of the Rangers and led 2-0 early Wednesday. They were eyeing their first three-game sweep on Texas soil since 1976.
But a mid-game rally by the Rangers erased that possibility. Texas broke through with four runs in the sixth inning and added a grand slam by Ryan Rua and a three-run shot by Shin-Soo Choo in an eight-run eighth to thump the Twins 14-3.
With the score tied at 2 in the sixth inning, Taylor Rogers replaced Twins starter Hector Santiago and promptly plunked Joey Gallo with a two-strike curveball in the ribs. One out later, Choo singled, and Rogers walked Delino DeShields to load the bases.
Twins manager Paul Molitor turned to Tyler Duffey, but he threw a wild pitch that allowed one run to score, then gave up a two-run single to Elvis Andrus as Texas took a 5-2 lead. The Rangers had not led for 18 consecutive innings in the series before the Twins-fueled rally.
Just for good measure, Andrus raced home on a passed ball by Chris Gimenez to make it 6-2 after the sixth inning. Brian Dozier's RBI single in the seventh cut the deficit to 6-3.
Texas tacked on five more runs in the eighth against Twins reliever Matt Belisle, with Rua delivering the biggest blow before Belisle was replaced by Michael Tonkin. Three batters later, Tonkin served up a three-run
homer to Choo.
The Rangers' comeback looked to put a damper on what had been a fine start to the Twins' six-game road trip. It also came as Santiago dealt with the loss of a loved one.
Santiago is in mourning after learning Tuesday that his grandmother, Nelly Rodriguez, had died at age 80. He informed Molitor of her passing, letting the manager know he had every intention of pitching Wednesday before heading to the East Coast for the funeral.
"He wants to pitch and then work out where he can pay his respects over the course of the weekend," Molitor said.
Santiago entered the game 2-1 with a 2.19 ERA, but he wasn't as sharp as he's been earlier this season. He hadn't walked more than two batters in an inning but walked four. He endured eight three-ball counts. He threw 104 pitches in five innings, many of them above and outside the strike zone. But he did enough to leave the game with the score tied at 2.
The Twins took a 2-0 lead in the second when Kenny Vargas singled and Eduardo Escobar followed with a two-run home run down the left field line. Rangers left-hander Cole Hamels left a slider up in the zone and Escobar squared it up for his second home run of the season. Hamels recovered to pitch into the seventh inning, but he needed double plays to get out of the fifth and sixth innings. Escobar's home run was his only mistake pitch through six.
Santiago stranded runners on base in every inning he pitched, including two on in the second and fourth innings. When he struck out Shin-Soo Choo to end the fourth, he pounded his fist into his glove as he walked off the field.
The rollercoaster ride finally got to him in the fifth inning. DeShields led off with a walk and promptly stole second base. Two batters later, Carlos Gomez dropped a single into right, putting runners on first and third. Santiago got Mike Napoli to pop out in foul territory for the second out, but that brought up Rougned Odor, who had singled in the fourth and was batting .429 against Santiago in his career.
Odor ripped a 3-2 pitch to right for a game-tying two-run single. Santiago was allowed to finish up the inning before leaving the game with a no-decision.