Odor’s homer sends Rangers past Twins 4-1 in 11 innings
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Rougned Odor’s three-run homer in the 11th inning gave the Texas Rangers a 4-1 win against the Minnesota Twins on Sunday.
Odor’s 13th homer of the season, into the bullpens in left-center field, came off Minnesota left-hander Adalberto Mejía (0-2). Mejía walked Joey Gallo and Asdrúbal Cabrera ahead of Odor’s one-out home run.
Shawn Kelley (4-2) pitched two innings for Texas, which had lost six of its previous seven games and three straight series.
The Rangers finally broke through in a game that had been tied since the fourth inning. Danny Santana singled to drive in Gallo in the fourth with one of his four hits.
Shin-Soo Choo reached base four times before he was pinch-run for in the eighth with left ankle soreness. Choo was injured going back into first base on a pickoff attempt.
Minnesota had chances to sweep the series, but four Texas relievers kept the majors’ top offense off the board over 9 1/3 innings.
In the 10th, the Twins stranded runners on second and third base when Mitch Garver fouled out to first base.
Minnesota had runners on second and third with no outs in the fourth. But Miguel Sanó was thrown out at home trying to score on Byron Buxton’s grounder to third. Buxton stole second base, but was thrown out at third by Gallo after Max Kepler’s flyout.
The Twins scored in the second inning when Buxton tripled to the corner in left field, scoring Sanó from first base.
MIX AND MATCH
The game was supposed to be a matchup of All-Star starters, but Texas skipped Mike Minor to give the left-hander extra rest. Minnesota’s Jake Odorizzi was placed on the injured list earlier in the week with a blister, but is expected to return to the rotation after the break.
In their place, the Rangers started reliever José Leclerc, who threw 30 pitches in Saturday’s game. Leclerc allowed a run in 1 2/3 innings.
The Twins went with starter Kyle Gibson on short rest. Gibson pitched an inning because he was scheduled to have a long break between starts. Left-hander Devin Smeltzer was recalled to be the long reliever on Sunday. He pitched 4 1/3 innings and gave up one run and five hits and a walk.
UMPIRE CHANGE
To start the eighth inning, home plate umpire Gerry Davis was replaced by Brian Knight. Davis umpired the seventh inning with a towel around his neck on a warm day in Minnesota.
The official temperature at the start was 81 degrees with very few clouds and little breeze. The final two innings were played with three umpires as Davis didn’t return following the switch.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rangers: Manager Chris Woodward said All-Star OF Hunter Pence (right groin strain) won’t be ready to return immediately following the All-Star break. Pence likely needs a few at-bats in rehab games, Woodward said.
Twins: Cave pinch-ran for Kepler in the 10th inning. Kepler led off with a single to right and was checked on by the team’s athletic trainer but stayed in. After he reached second, Kepler was removed from the game though the team didn’t provide an update during the game.
UP NEXT
Rangers: Texas returns from the break with a four-game home series against Houston. The Rangers haven’t announced their rotation coming out of the break, but RHP Lance Lynn (11-4, 3.91 ERA) will likely start the first game of the series on Thursday.
Twins: Following the All-Star Game in Cleveland, Minnesota will have a three-game road series against their division rivals, the Indians, starting Friday. Manager Rocco Baldelli wasn’t ready to announce his rotation coming out of the break.
