Brian Dozier's bases-clearing double lifts Twins over Rangers

ARLINGTON, TEXAS – Brian Dozier looked for a changeup from Rangers lefthander Martin Perez in the fifth inning Monday night, and guessed right.

Then it was time to do something with it, because Dozier had failed a few times this season when he had a chance for a big hit.

"Hit it where they can't catch it," Dozier said. "That's the name of the game."

Dozier squared the pitch up and drove it to left-center for a three-run double, his first hit with runners in scoring position this season. It was a big moment for the Twins as well, because their second baseman supplied all the runs they needed to hold off Texas 3-2.

After going 2-7 on their just-completed homestand, there was no better way to hit the reset button. And they did it with their first one-run victory of 2017.

Righthander Phil Hughes went six innings to improve to 3-1. He will hand things off to Ervin Santana, who's looking to improve to 4-0 on Tuesday.

"We capitalized on a little control lapse there with the walks," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "Brian hasn't had a lot of opportunities with a lot of struggles at the bottom [of the order] but he took advantage of that and got the huge hit."

The bottom of the order currently includes Byron Buxton, who began Monday's game batting .109. So Dozier has had limited opportunities to succeed.

But his time came in the fifth inning with the Twins trailing 2-0. Hughes had given up an RBI double to Rougned Odor in the second and an RBI single to Joey Gallo in the fourth.

Kennys Vargas and Chris Gimenez drew one-out walks off Perez in the fifth, giving the Twins their first runner in scoring position. Eddie Rosario struck out for the second out.

Buxton, who was out to the park in the early afternoon to work on his hitting, also drew a walk — only his third of the season — to load the bases for Dozier.

"That was huge," Molitor said.

"[Perez] had a tough time locating his heater that inning and went to his bread and butter, that changeup," Dozier said. "After he filled Buxton up with a ton of them, even at 3-1, he came back with it and missed inside. I knew I wasn't going to get a heater.

"He left it up. Pretty good swing on it."

Miguel Sano had a hand in the victory as well. He hustled his 270-something-pound frame down the line after Gallo's pop fly in the second and adjusted to the wind at the last second and made a falling catch. Sano then popped up and fired a throw home, holding a runner at third.

It was the right time to get contributions from many — Taylor Rogers, Matt Belisle and Brandon Kintzler each pitched a scoreless inning, with Kintzler earning his fifth save — to start a road trip the right way.

"From the first pitch on, you can tell everybody was locked in," Dozier said. "That's what you need."