Twins rally late to beat Rangers, trim AL Central deficit

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Rangers drew nearly 30,000 fans to Globe Life Field on Thursday by giving away replicas of Nathan Eovaldi’s World Series championship ring. On Saturday, the Rangers righthander demonstrated for seven innings how he earned the real thing.

But in the eighth, the Rangers reminded their fans why they won’t defend their title this fall, blowing the lead and handing the Twins their third straight come-from-behind victory in the series, 5-2.

Combined with the Guardians’ loss in Milwaukee, the Twins whittled their AL Central deficit to two games behind Cleveland.

“We had to work hard, but it was very satisfying walking off the field,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said after his team recorded its 33rd comeback win of the season. “The team really comes together in games like this, and it feels good when you find a way. You’re not really sure how you’re going to do it, but you find a way.”

Can’t blame him for doubting. Eovaldi, who went 5-0 in the postseason run to Texas’ first title last fall, held the Twins to two singles and Trevor Larnach’s first home run since July 26 during his seven-inning masterwork.

“I’m never surprised by anything Nate Eovaldi does. I know Nate, seen him pitch a lot. I’ve seen what he does in big situations,” said Baldelli, a coach with Tampa Bay when Eovaldi pitched for the Rays. “We talk about guys being workhorses — he is that. He’s done it. He’s done it in World Series.”

But with his pitch count climbing toward 100, Eovaldi was sent out for the eighth inning, something he had never attempted in 2024.

The Twins pounced on the tiring All-Star. Edouard Julien led off with a sharp single into center field, and Christian Vázquez did the same. Pitching coach Mike Maddux conferred with Eovaldi, but he remained in to face Austin Martin, who laid down a sacrifice bunt that third baseman Josh Jung fielded.

Martin was called out by umpire Ryan Additon, but when the Twins disagreed, video replay proved them correct, loading the bases and finally forcing Texas manager Bruce Bochy to rescue the suddenly floundering Eovaldi.

Then came the night’s biggest at-bat, a Willi Castro make-things-happen special that turned a one-run deficit into a two-run lead with one swing.

The shortstop drove a cutter from reliever David Robertson toward shortstop, a textbook double-play ball — except Corey Seager was shifted up the middle and couldn’t reach it.

“He was playing where everybody plays me, playing me to pull,” Castro said of his team-high 114th hit. “I got that pitch down and got a really good swing on it. When you have a really good swing, really good stuff happens.”

It did, more than he could have imagined. Julien scored, and Vázquez followed right behind him, as center fielder Leody Taveras (who made Thursday’s critical error allowing Kyle Farmer to score on a triple) seemed to catch Martin hung up between second and third base.

But Taveras’ throw short-hopped Jung and bounced into the Twins dugout, and Martin was sent to the plate by the umpires.

The Twins added an insurance run against Walter Pennington in the ninth, using a Carlos Santana walk, Max Kepler’s double and Farmer’s sacrifice fly to make it a three-run lead over the 56-68 Rangers.

The rally got David Festa off the hook for a loss, fitting since he pitched well: six hits over five innings, no walks and six strikeouts. Only a couple of two-out hits brought home runs, but Festa finished strong, striking out three of the final four batters he faced, to drive his ERA under 5.00 (at 4.96) for the first time in his career.