 followed the hard-throwing rookie getting a strikeout and groundout after putting runners at second and third with no outs. Miguel Sano walked to load the bases before Polanco's team-leading sixth triple.By finishing its first four-game sweep since the end of last season, Minnesota maintained a 2 1/2-game lead over Cleveland in the AL Central. The Twins went 5-1 on a trip that started with them not leading the division for the first time in almost four months.Shin-Soo Choo connected for his 20th homer off onetime Texas closer Sam Dyson to get the Rangers even in the seventh, preventing left-hander Martin Perez from beating his former team for the second time in two starts after spending his first seven seasons with the Rangers.Dyson (5-1) escaped the seventh despite allowing two singles after Choo's blast, Sergio Romo pitched around an error in the eighth and Taylor Rogers struck out Rougned Odor looking as the potential tying run in the ninth for his 19th save in 25 chances.The temperature was 95 degrees at first pitch and reached 100 by the middle innings. Minnesota leadoff hitter and center fielder Max Kepler left the game in the seventh inning because of heat illness. The game lasted 3 hours, 49 minutes.The Rangers are in the last of 26 seasons at Globe Life Park before moving across the street to Globe Life Field, which will have a retractable roof and air conditioning.Marwin Gonzalez gave the Twins a 2-0 lead in the first on a line-drive double that was misplayed by left fielder Willie Calhoun. It was Gonzalez's 11th hit in 15 at-bats in the series before a flyout, two groundouts and a walk his final four trips.Texas didn't have a hit that left the infield off Perez until Delino DeShields' two-out single to right in the fourth. Jeff Mathis followed with a soft two-run single into right to get Texas within 3-2. Perez allowed two runs on five hits and four walks in five innings.Lance Lynn tied a season high with five walks while allowing four hits and three runs in five innings for the Rangers. The right-hander followed two straight losses with a no-decision after matching the AL lead at that time with his 14th win on Aug. 2.TRAINER'S ROOMTwins: Manager Rocco Baldelli said it was possible slugger Nelson Cruz (left wrist strain) would be reinstated from the injured list Monday when he's eligible to return. Baldelli said the club has received ''nothing but positive news'' since Cruz got hurt.Rangers: All-Star slugger Joey Gallo is lightly swinging a bat for the first time since surgery July 25 to remove the broken hamate bone in his right wrist. Manager Chris Woodward said the club hopes Gallo can play the final 2-3 weeks of the regular season.UP NEXTTwins: RHP Kyle Gibson (11-5, 4.28 ERA) is set for the opener of a three-game series at home against the White Sox. Gibson is 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA in two starts against Chicago this season, with 18 strikeouts and two walks in 13 innings.Rangers: Rookie LHP Kolby Allard (1-0, 4.50) is set to pitch for Texas as the Angels return to Globe Life Park for the first time since pitcher Tyler Skaggs was found dead in his hotel room before the start of a series. The teams played three games after the opener was postponed.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Perez, Lynn face former teams in Twins-Rangers finaleFLMMartin Perez spent seven seasons pitching in Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas, but Sunday afternoon will mark the first time the left-hander makes a start for the visiting side as the Minnesota Twins look to complete a four-game sweep of the Texas Rangers.Perez (8-5, 4.57 ERA) signed as an undrafted free agent with Texas in 2007 and went 43-49 with a 4.63 ERA with the Rangers, including a 10-6 mark with a 3.62 ERA in 2013 when he finished sixth in American League Rookie of the Year voting. But Texas let him leave after a 2018 season in which he went just 2-7 with a 6.22 ERA in 22 appearances, including 15 starts.Perez signed a one-year contract with Minnesota in January. He already faced his former teammates on July 5 in Minneapolis, when he picked up the win in a 15-6 victory, allowing four runs and seven hits over six innings. But he said Sunday's homecoming start "will be a special day for me." "I was here my first seven years in the big leagues," Perez told twincities.com. "I have to say thank you to the organization, the Texas Rangers, because they gave me the opportunity to be a professional baseball player and to pitch at the big league level. To be back, it's good for me and to know that I'm going to pitch in front of my biggest fans (means) a lot to me." The pitcher opposing Perez on Sunday, right-hander Lance Lynn (14-8, 3.54), will also be facing a team for which he played last season. Lynn, who will be facing Minnesota for the first time in his career, went 7-8 in 20 starts with the Twins in 2018 before being dealt with cash to the Yankees at the trade deadline for minor league pitcher Luis Rijo and first baseman/outfielder Tyler Austin.Lynn will be trying to cool down a Minnesota lineup that leads the majors with 240 home runs, just 27 off the single-season record of 267 set by the Yankees last season, and comes in off a 12-7 win on Saturday night that saw the Twins roll up 18 hits, including homers by C. J. Cron and Miguel Sano.Cron became the sixth player on the Twins to hit the 20-homer mark this season, tying the team record set in 1964.Minnesota took advantage of an error by Texas starter Ariel Jurado on what could have been an inning-ending double play to score six unearned runs in the first inning Saturday that was capped off by Cron's two-run homer."It's a good feeling to put up the runs early and take advantage of everything that we can, and then continually add on and put more runs on the board," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters. "It's something that you're going to need to do to win games going forward. ... The ability to not lose focus, the ability to stay locked in and have good at-bats and continue to put runs on the board is what is going to lead to wins." Minnesota is 39-22 on the road this season and is looking to finish 5-1 on its current trip. The Twins began the week in Milwaukee on Tuesday, a half-game behind the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central. They enter Sunday's contest with a 2 1/2-game lead.Texas, meanwhile, lost its fourth straight series and is 1-10-3 in its last 14 series."Overall, we just didn't play well today," Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. "We didn't do anything to win the game today. ... Quite honestly, we have to play better." --Field Level Media
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