Danny Jansen started the Rangers' night with a two-out blooper and finished his contribution with a leadoff home run. The catcher went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored Saturday at Target Field, helping Texas beat the Minnesota Twins 6-2 after a rain delay of 2 hours, 1 minute and push the American League West race to the season's final day.
The Associated Press led with Jansen's homer and two RBIs. Per the CBS Sports box score, Jansen finished 2-for-4 with a home run, two RBIs and two runs; the home run was his seventh of the season. Texas improved to 80-81. Minnesota fell to 76-85.
Two outs, then the inning flipped
Bailey Ober (7-7) had struck out Jake Burger and Ezequiel Duran to open the second. Nicky Lopez doubled with two outs, and Jansen's shallow single to left-center scored Lopez. Alan Roden's throwing error moved Jansen to second. Evan Carter, Alejandro Osuna and Brandon Nimmo each followed with RBI doubles, and Texas led 4-1 before Ober could get the third out.
That sequence - Lopez's double, Jansen's RBI single, then three straight RBI doubles - produced the only multi-run inning Texas needed. The bottom three batters in the starting lineup went 6-for-11 with four RBIs and four runs, the AP noted.
Leadoff homer in the fourth
Jansen led off the fourth by homering to left. The solo shot made it 5-1 and was the second of two Texas home runs on the night; Jake Burger added his team-leading 28th in the fifth. Jansen's night now covered both ends of the offensive story: the two-out rally that flipped a 1-0 deficit and the early-inning power that stretched the lead.
Texas played without Josh Jung, placed on the 10-day injured list with a broken right hand after Friday's hit-by-pitch, the AP reported. Lopez exited in the fourth with an injury around his left ankle and heel and was replaced by Cody Freeman.
