ARLINGTON, Texas — Because of the rain and TV contracts, Saturday's game didn't start until 9:15, and didn't end until 12:35 a.m. Here are a couple of things you may have missed in the early morning hours:

— Ricky Nolasco's game was good enough to win, and that's plenty good for Paul Molitor.

"He did well," the manager said. "His last inning [was] a little bit of a struggle — long night, long half inning — but he got through six innings."

In fact, Nolasco is the only Twin to make every one of his starts, 18 in all, and he leads the team in innings with 108 2/3.

Giving up four runs wasn't what he had in mind, but two of them came in an inning that would drive any pitcher crazy. Robinson Chirinos led off the third with a soft grounder toward the hole at shortstop. Miguel Sano tried to cut it off, but the ball bounced off his glove and rolled away for an infield hit. Two batters later, Ian Desmond hit a soft roller toward second base, which Brian Dozier reached but had no play. Trouble is, he didn't realize it; Dozier tried to throw on the run, but the ball was wide of first base and went into the dugout, Dozier's fifth error of the season. A ground out scored a run, and then Adrian Beltre hit a line drive about three inches out of Eduardo Nunez's reach, scoring another.

"You just have to put it behind you and stay positive," Nolasco said.

— Joe Mauer made a mental mistake during the Rangers' eighth-inning rally that had Molitor puzzled.

With two runners on base and one out, Elvis Andrus blooped a popup over Mauer's head and into short right field. Mauer retrieved it, took a couple of steps toward the infield, then gently tossed the ball toward the pitchers mound. Andrus alertly hustled to second base, and pinch-runner Ryan Rua went to third, putting a big inning in play. (It didn't happen, because Brandon Kintzler came in to get the third out.)

Molitor came to the mound to change pitches, and Mauer explained why he didn't run the ball in, as he should have.

"I think he thought one of our guys was [standing] there" on the mound, Molitor said. "I don't know if he saw an umpire rotating or what. … He told me he thought it was Fernando [Abad], but he was standing behind the plate."

Molitor didn't criticize his first baseman for the mistake — he offered some advice. "We're going to get his eyes checked," he joked.