Trevor Larnach went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs, and the Minnesota Twins cruised to a 9-3 win over the Texas Rangers on Thursday afternoon in Arlington, Texas.
Brooks Lee added a three-run homer for Minnesota, which completed a three-game sweep over the Rangers. Ryan Kreidler hit a two-run homer, and Victor Caratini finished 3-for-4.
Wyatt Langford, Ezequiel Duran and Justin Foscue each hit a solo home run for Texas. Josh Smith doubled for the Rangers’ only other extra-base hit.
Twins right-hander Joe Ryan (5-3) scattered three hits over five scoreless innings. He walked two and struck out seven, and he threw 67 of 97 pitches for strikes.
Rangers right-hander Jack Leiter (3-7) gave up six runs on seven hits in four innings. He walked two and he fanned four.
The Twins jumped to a 4-0 advantage in the first inning and led the rest of the way.
Josh Bell drove in the opening run with a single to right that scored Larnach. Bell’s hit put runners on first and third for Lee, who pulled a three-run shot to right to make it 4-0.
Larnach increased the Twins’ lead to 6-0 with a two-run homer in the fourth. He worked a full count from an 0-2 start and belted the eighth pitch of his at-bat 419 feet over the wall in center.
Two innings later, Larnach struck again. He ripped an RBI single to left to score Caratini and push the Twins’ advantage to 7-0.
The Rangers got on the scoreboard in the sixth.
Langford led off the inning with a homer to left. Two batters later, Duran followed suit with another solo homer to left to cut the Texas deficit to 7-2.
Minnesota tallied two more runs in the eighth to grab a 9-2 lead. Caratini led off the inning with a single, and Kreidler followed with a two-run homer to right-center field.
Foscue finished the scoring with a solo shot in the bottom of the ninth. Byron Buxton followed the ball toward deep left-center until he ran out of room and watched the ball sail over the wall.
