Willi Castro drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single, and another run came in due to a throwing error, leading the Minnesota Twins to a 5-2 win over the struggling Texas Rangers on Saturday night.
Trailing 2-1 as they entered the eighth inning, the Twins received singles from Edouard Julien and Christian Vázquez on 0-2 pitches from Nathan Eovaldi (8-7). Austin Martin then loaded the bases by beating out a sacrifice bunt, which was initially called out but overturned after the Twins’ challenge.
Castro’s single through the middle off David Robertson brought in Julien and Vázquez. Texas center fielder Leody Taveras’s throw to third base went astray past Josh Jung, allowing Martin to score and giving the Twins a 4-2 advantage.
“It’s a confidence we all have,” Castro said. “We never give up. We had some good at-bats, and we’re going to keep playing like this.”
Trevor Larnach hit his career-high 12th home run of the season, and the Twins added an insurance run in the ninth inning when Kyle Farmer’s sacrifice fly scored Carlos Santana, who had drawn the game’s only walk.
Ronny Henriquez (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings in relief of David Festa to earn his first major-league win. With closer Jhoan Duran having pitched the previous three days, Cole Sands delivered a perfect ninth inning for his fourth save in seven opportunities.
The Twins, who are pushing for a playoff spot, have now won three of the four games in this series, which wraps up on Sunday. They are a season-best 17 games over .500 at 70-53, trailing AL Central-leading Cleveland by two games.
For Texas, Carson Kelly drove in both runs with a single in the second inning and a double in the fourth.
The defending World Series champions, the Rangers, are now a season-worst 12 games under .500 at 56-68 and have lost 16 of their last 21 games since a five-game winning streak in late July.
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