Willi Castro drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single, and another Minnesota run scored due to a throwing error, leading the Twins to a 5-2 victory over the struggling Texas Rangers on Saturday night.
Down 2-1 going into the eighth inning, the Twins got singles from Edouard Julien and Christian Vázquez on 0-2 pitches from Nathan Eovaldi (8-7). Austin Martin loaded the bases by beating out a sacrifice bunt that was initially ruled out but was overturned after the Twins challenged.
Castro’s single up the middle off David Robertson scored Julien and Vázquez. A throw by Texas center fielder Leody Taveras to third base bounced past Josh Jung, allowing Martin to score and giving the Twins a 4-2 lead.
“I think it’s a confidence everybody has,” Castro said. “We never give up. We got some good AB’s out there. We’re going to keep playing like this.”
Trevor Larnach hit his career-high 12th home run of the season, and the Twins added another run in the ninth inning on Kyle Farmer’s sacrifice fly that scored Carlos Santana, who drew 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 worked a perfect ninth inning for his fourth save in seven chances.
The Twins, who are aiming for the playoffs, have won three of the four games in this series, which concludes on Sunday. They are now a season-best 17 games over .500 at 70-53 and two games behind AL Central-leading Cleveland.
Carson Kelly drove in both runs for Texas with a single in the second inning and a double in the fourth.
The Rangers, the defending World Series champions, are 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.
