Morales powers Twins past Rangers
Published 3:20 am Monday, June 30, 2014
ARLINGTON, Texas — Kendrys Morales had a tiebreaking double off Texas closer Joakim Soria in the top of the ninth inning and the Minnesota Twins snapped a 10-game road losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Rangers on Sunday.
Morales’ line drive landed just inside the foul line in left field, and a leaping security guard avoided touching the ball, allowing pinch-runner Sam Fuld to score from first base.
A ground-rule double would have forced Fuld to stop at third, and Soria (1-3) struck out the final two hitters of the inning.
Kyle Gibson (7-6) matched a career high by going eight innings and scattering eight hits. Perkins struck out the side in the ninth for his 20th save in 23 chances.
Robinson Chirinos had three hits for Texas, including his seventh homer of the season in the fifth inning for a 2-2 tie.
Josh Willingham’s second hit got the winning rally started with one out in the ninth before he was replaced by Fuld.
It was the second rough outing of the three-game series for Soria. He gave up four runs in the ninth inning of Texas’ 5-4 victory on Friday.
The Twins had lost the first five games on a six-game road trip after winning four straight on a brief homestand.
Jorge Polanco, making his first major league start for Minnesota, had a tying double on a check-swing roller over the bag at third base in the third inning. The 20-year-old shortstop scored for a 2-1 lead on a single by Joe Mauer, who extended his hitting streak to a season-high 10 games.
The Rangers had runners at first and third with nobody out in the second and again with one out in the seventh but didn’t score either time. Michael Choice struck out ahead of Rougned Odor’s double-play grounder in the second, and Choice grounded into a double play to end the seventh.
Texas right-hander Colby Lewis ended a streak of 13 straight starts without a quality start of at least six innings and three earned runs or fewer, which was tied for the major league record with Seattle’s Steve Trout from 1988. He gave up two runs in six innings and struck out eight.
Lewis left in a 2-2 tie, remaining winless in seven career starts against the Twins.
NOTES: Chris Parmelee’s single in the sixth inning gave him a career-best nine-game hitting streak. … The Rangers won a home series for the first time since mid-April. They had gone winless in 10 straight series at home. … The Twins are 5-14 against the AL West and have been outscored 101-65.