Santana's sacrifice fly in 9th off All-Star closer Yates sends Twins past Rangers 3-2

ARLINGTON, Texas — Carlos Santana hit a sacrifice fly off All-Star closer Kirby Yates in the ninth inning and the playoff-contending Minnesota Twins won 3-2 at Texas on Thursday night in the series opener against the reigning World Series champion Rangers.

Santana's deep fly to right-center came after Yates (4-2) issued consecutive one-out walks and then threw a wild pitch.

''He's seen it all ... he really knows what he needs to do," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said of Santana. ''We don't need a bomb. We don't need really anything but a barrel. He got the pitch up and drove it out there. Nice job, professional.''

Willi Castro homered for the Twins (68-53), who moved within four games of idle Cleveland for the AL Central lead. Minnesota currently holds the American League's second wild card.

The Rangers (56-66) are third in the AL West and 10 games behind Houston, matching their biggest division deficit this season.

Jorge Alcala (3-3), the third Twins pitcher, retired all three batters he faced. Jhoan Duran struck out two in a perfect ninth for his 17th save in 18 chances.

''The game starts and there's runs all over the place, and there's some hard-hit balls and you're almost expecting a different kind of ballgame,'' Baldelli said

After multiple runs in the first inning for the first time since July 23, the Rangers had their 10th game this year not scoring again after a run in their first at-bat. All eight hits were singles, ending 39 consecutive games since June 29 with an extra-base hit that was the longest-active streak in the majors.

''We just couldn't get much going after first inning. Had a couple chances there and couldn't get another hit to tack on or add another run or two,'' Texas manager Bruce Bochy said. ''It's a tough one. They scored a cheap run there in the ninth.''

Minnesota got even in the second. Castro's 10th homer was followed by Kyle Farmer's triple that ricocheted off the angled wall in left-center and past center fielder Leody Taveras for an error that allowed him to score.

''Getting the game evened up was big time,'' said Minnesota starter Bailey Ober, who went six innings. ''I could just kind of restart and reset, have a clear mind, like it didn't happen. Just go out there and attack.''

The Twins marked Christian Vázquez reaching 10 years of MLB service with balloons, cookies and a mariachi band in the clubhouse before the game. The catcher, who was part of World Series titles in Boston and Houston, had his 15th hit in his last 12 games with a single in the fourth. He was then doubled off first base on Austin Martin's flyout.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Twins: CF Byron Buxton was placed on the 10-day injured list with inflammation in his right hip. The move was retroactive to Tuesday, the day after he exited a game against Kansas City.

Rangers: RHP Nathan Eovaldi is scheduled to start Saturday, a week after coming out of his last start because of right side tightness. Eovaldi has thrown a bullpen and said everything should be fine. ... Three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (right shoulder fatigue) is set to throw a bullpen Friday. His last start was July 30.

UP NEXT

Rangers lefty Andrew Heaney (4-12, 4.05 ERA) is tied for the most losses in MLB after going 0-2 with a 6.30 ERA his last four starts. Rookie right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson (3-3, 3.78) pitches Friday night for the Twins.