Things didn’t look good for Minnesota Twins starter Kyle Gibson (2-5) at the outset. On the second pitch of the game, Texas Rangers right fielder Shin-Soo Choo took him deep to bullpen in left-center, and the next two batters reached as Ian Desmond walked and Nomar Mazara singled. But the tall righty ultimately settled down, as he got a double play and a lineout to get out of the first and ultimately tossed 6.2 solid innings in a 5-4 win for the Twins.
With the win, the Twins took the series by a 2-1 margin over the Rangers, who have the best record in the American League.
“Honestly in the first inning I thought it was going to be a pretty long day,” Gibson told Fox Sports North following the game. “I didn’t really feel comfortable out there. My stuff in the bullpen was as bad as it has been in a while. But in the second inning I made a little adjustment with my arm — trying to get it out front — and it ended up working.”
The Twins broke through in the third inning. Danny Santana singled to lead off the inning, and stole second with two outs after Eduardo Nunez fanned and Joe Mauer flied out to left. Miguel Sano reached on an infield single, and Brian Dozier followed with a triple off the top of the wall in right-center to play both Sano and Santana. Robbie Grossman followed with a single to bring home Dozier, and give the Twins a 3-1 lead.
After a rough first inning, Gibson recorded 1-2-3 innings in the second, third and fourth frames before the Rangers broke through for a single run in the fifth to narrow the Twins’ lead to 3-2. Rougned Odor led off with a double to deep left, and Elvis Andrus followed with a single to drive him in before Gibson recovered to record the next three outs in a row.
Gibson was complimentary of the work catcher Kurt Suzuki did behind the plate to guide him through the game. “Kurt was great back there,” Gibson said. “He never got away from our plan of attacking on the first pitch and getting ahead. He got me through the 6.2 innings today. He was great back there.”
The Twins added a fourth run in the fifth inning against Rangers starter Cole Hamels (9-2), as Sano and Dozier led off the inning with walks and each moved up a base on Grossman’s single to left. Max Kepler followed that up with a single to center, which allowed Sano to trot home for a 4-2 Twins lead.
The fifth run, which wound up being the winning run, scored under interesting circumstances. Kepler’s single chased Hamels, with Rangers reliever Tony Barnette taking over. Barnette got Suzuki to fly to right, and appeared to get Eddie Rosario — newly called up from Rochester prior to the game — to ground into an inning-ending double play to keep the game at 4-2. As Rangers players slowly shuffled off the field, Twins manager Paul Molitor called for a replay, which clearly showed that first base umpire Dale Scott was incorrect in his out call. With Rosario ruled safe and the inning prolonged, Dozier’s run counted at the plate, giving the Twins a fifth run that would prove all important in the later innings.
Gibson followed that with a 1-2-3 sixth inning and went back out for the seventh. Gibson was on the verge of another clean inning before the stretch as he got Prince Fielder to line to first and Odor to strike out looking, but Sano couldn’t handle an Andrus smash between short and third cleanly. Sano made a nice play to pick the ball up moving to his left, but his necessary strong throw to try nip a speedy Andrus pulled Mauer off the bag, and the Rangers had second life in the seventh. Gibson followed that with a walk to Jurickson Profar — starting for the scratched Mitch Moreland at first — and that led Molitor to bring in reliever Ryan Pressly.
Rangers skipper Jeff Banister countered that move by re-inserting Moreland to pinch hit for catcher Bobby Wilson. The move worked, as Pressly scuffled with his command, ultimately walking Moreland before allowing a two-run double to deep left that Rosario just missed grabbing. Pressly regrouped to get Ian Desmond to ground to third, and preserve the 5-4 lead of the Twins.
Other than a single in the eighth from Prince Fielder, the Rangers didn’t threaten again until there were two outs in the ninth. With just one out left, catcher Robinson Chirinos — who ran for Moreland after he walked — poked a double to right-center between Santana and Kepler, but was stranded there as Twins closer Brandon Kintzler (save, 4) got Choo to ground out to second to end the game.
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Up Next: RHP Kendall Graveman (3-6, 4.84) vs. Ricky Nolasco (3-6, 5.31) – Monday, 1:10 p.m.
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Notes & Quotes
- Trevor Plouffe was a late scratch for the Twins as he was slated to first base. He missed the game with sore ribs, and is day-to-day. Mauer started at first in his place.
- Mauer (0-for-5) is now just 4-for-36 (.111) in his last 10 games.
- The Twins designated reliever Kevin Jepsen for assignment prior to Sunday’s game. The team has 10 days to trade or release him as a result. The roster move was made to open up a spot for Rosario (1-for-4), who doubled in his first game back from Triple-A Rochester. Rosario spent six weeks with the Red Wings, hitting .319/.343/.538 in 41 games with 21 extra-base hits (14 doubles, seven home runs).
- Just two of the four runs allowed by Gibson were earned — due to the Sano error — and his ERA fell from 5.12 to 4.82 in the win.
- Sano (1-for-2) walked twice, his fifth multi-walk game of the season.
- Gibson on settling in after the first: “I think the comfort zone came from my arm a little bit. Just that little adjustment helped me get out front and execute a little better. And then there toward the end you could see where I got away from that a little bit. I got a little tired maybe, and lost a little of the execution there when I got behind guys in the sixth and seventh. For the most part I was able to stay in a rhythm, and with Kurt back there calling a good game and defense being right where I needed them to be, it was awesome.”
- Molitor on Gibson settling in, and the team’s overall effort in a series win: “It was kind of like Ervin (Santana) yesterday. It seemed like his feel for his pitches in the first was a little bit off. The pitch to Choo wasn’t too bad, he just went out and got it. He minimized there, and got a nice double play as Miguel (Sano) made a nice play on Beltre. Hamels is having a great year, but we found a way to square some balls up. Dozier had the big triple. I’m a little concerned that we ran ourselves out of the inning without scoring, but somehow we were able to overcome it. Gibby got stronger, and got deep into the game for us.”
- Molitor on the “little things”: Well there were some good things and still some things we need to keep trying to get better at. There were some things that were difference makers. Rosario had a good day, coming up here and having to face Hamels. He got a big hit out there in the gap. He got out front with the bases loaded, but beat the (throw back to first). That was a big run for us to put on the board at that time.”
- Molitor on Dozier hitting to the opposite field: “It’s not like he’s peppering the ball to right, but he’s mixing them in. But what we’ve seen over the last month or so is that when he hits them over there, he can drive them. In the past, we’ve seen hits there occasionally, but now we’ve seen him go off the wall there a couple times. It’s just having confidence that you can do that, and that you can use a little more of the field and be productive.”
