MINNEAPOLIS _ The Twins grabbed a lead, added on and then held on.
That shouldn't be taken lightly because the Twins have been terrible with leads lately.
With memories still fresh of a road trip with several blown leads and an offense that would stop scoring after five innings, the Twins hit three home runs, two from Brian Dozier, and beat Texas, 8-4, at Target Field.
Robbie Grossman also homered as the Twins knocked Rangers left-hander Martin Perez out of the game in the fifth inning after throwing 93 pitches.
That put veteran right-hander Bartolo Colon in position to win his first game in four tries in the Twins uniform. After giving up two runs in the first inning, Colon settled down and needed just 106 pitches to pitch a complete game.
It gave Colon one win with 10 different teams. LaTroy Hawkins, Mike Morgan and Ron Villone share the record with a win with 11 different teams. Hawkins and Morgan pitched for the Twins.
One bad moment for the Twins came in the sixth inning, when Miguel Sano was hit near the left wrist with a pitch thrown by Rangers reliever Tony Barnette. Sano crumpled to the ground and was down for several seconds before getting up. He was removed from the game for pinch runner Zack Granite.
Sano was later diagnosed with a left hand contusion. X-rays were negative, and he's listed as day-to-day. Sano was hit in the same area on July 24 against the Dodgers.
He was hit during an inning in which the Twins got a sacrifice fly from Joe Mauer to take an 8-3 lead.
Texas was ready for the strike-throwing Colon. Shin-Soo Choo hit the first pitch of the game for a single and Elvis Andrus hit the second for a double. Adrian Beltre singled both runners home as the Rangers took a 2-0 lead.
But the Twins came right back in the bottom of the inning.
Dozier hit 1-0 pitch from Perez over the wall in left to cut the lead to 2-1. It was Dozier's 24th career leadoff homer, and fifth this season.
Sano singled and Mauer walked, bringing Robbie Grossman to the plate. Grossman's best contribution to the Twins is by getting on base, not jogging around them. The outfielder likes taking his walks.
But Grossman put a big swing on a Perez fastball and powered it into the left-field seats for three-run home run that put the Twins ahead 4-2. It was Grossman's first home run hitting right-handed this season.
Dozier batted in the second inning and blasted another Perez pitch in the second deck in left, putting the Twins ahead, 5-2. It gave Dozier a leadoff homer in the first and second innings, the first time a Twins player has done that.
The Rangers got an RBI single from Nomar Mazara in the third to get within 4-3. But the Twins added two runs in fifth when Eddie Rosario's single drove in Mauer and Grossman.
The Twins led 7-3, but no lead has been safe with this bunch. They were coming off of a road trip during which they twice blew 5-0 leads in addition to a 4-1 lead. The offense would stop hitting right as the bullpen started leaking runs, producing one gut-wrenching loss after another.
