Twins' sweep dream unravels in rout by Rangers

ARLINGTON, TEXAS – It was too much to ask of the Twins to achieve something on Texas soil that hasn't happened in nearly 41 years.

They had a chance to be the first Twins team to sweep the Rangers in a three-game road series since 1976, when Rod Carew and Lyman Bostock were getting clutch hits and Dave Goltz was tossing complete games. Goltz pitched when relievers were not deployed as frequently as they are now.

And that was the problem Wednesday — it was necessary for the Twins to go to the bullpen. That's when Texas pounced and pulled away to a 14-3 laugher. Texas scored 12 runs off the bullpen. Eight came in the eighth inning, including a grand slam by Ryan Rua off Matt Belisle and a three-run shot by Shin-Soo Choo off Michael Tonkin that landed near a fan holding a South Korean flag.

The Twins gave up season highs in runs allowed and most runs given up in an inning.

"We just couldn't push the right buttons," Twins manager Paul Molitor said.

Lefthander Hector Santiago, pitching one day after the death of his grandmother, Nelly Rodriguez, wasn't sharp but left after five innings with the score tied 2-2. And the first of six Twins relievers entered the game.

Taylor Rogers plunked Joey Gallo with a 3-2 curveball in the ribs. Two batters later Choo singled, and Rogers walked Delino DeShields to load the bases.

Molitor turned to Tyler Duffey to face Elvis Andrus. Duffey got ahead in the count but then yanked a pitch into the dirt that went to the backstop and allowed the Rangers to take the lead. Andrus then hit a two-run single and Texas went up 5-2. A passed ball by Chris Gimenez allowed Andrus to score a sixth Texas run.

Brian Dozier drove in a run in the seventh to make it 6-3, and the Twins were hoping to battle back.

Hoping. But the bullpen allowed the leadoff hitter to reach base in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. And the Twins needed six relievers to get nine outs.

"The bullpen has been doing a good job overall," Molitor said of a bullpen that entered the game with a 3.04 ERA, eighth in the majors. "[Wednesday] was not their best moment."

Santiago is headed to New Jersey to be with family for his grandmother's funeral. He took the mound Wednesday with messages written to her on the back of the scouting report he kept in a rear pocket of his uniform pants.

"Watch down on me and make sure we get through this game," Santiago said, "stuff like that."

Santiago did not have the control he had during his previous four starts. But he held Texas to a two-run single by Rougned Odor over his five-inning stint. That tied the score at 2-2, after the Twins' Eduardo Escobar's two-run homer in the second opened the scoring.

The Twins still took two of the three games against Texas in this series. Miguel Sano ended up with six hits over the past two games, and Byron Buxton reached base in eight of his past 11 plate appearances this week. Even the bullpen had tossed five shutout innings before falling apart Wednesday.

"You try to get greedy and finish off the sweep," Molitor said. "We didn't do it. We'll take the series and guys get an [off] day to back off."