MINNEAPOLIS _ The Twins grabbed an early lead Saturday because of Texas' incompetence in the field. After that, they just kept squaring up baseballs and putting crooked numbers on the board.
When they were finished, the Twins had a 17-5 win over the AL West leading Rangers at Target Field. It was the most the Twins have scored in a game since they scored 20 against the Tigers on Aug. 22, 2014. They scored at least three runs in each of the first three innings, then dropped six runs on the Rangers in the fifth to take a 13-run lead.
One Twin had the best day of them all, as Max Kepler slugged two three-run home runs and got another RBI on a fielder's choice. The seven RBIs for Kepler established a new Twins rookie record, passing the previous mark of six held by Miguel Sano (2015), Oswaldo Arcia (2013) and Tony Oliva (1964). It was the first time a rookie has had seven RBIs in a game since San Francisco's Jarrod Parker did it last September.
Twins right-hander Tyler Duffey wasn't sharp, giving up four runs over six innings. But who could blame him? He had to sit through long innings and probably was more interested in seeing what the offense would do next.
Things got so bad for Texas that the Rangers had to turn to backup catcher Bryan Holaday and his knuckler to get them through the final 11/3 innings.
The Rangers gave away runs in the first inning, during which the Twins took a 4-0 lead. In one sequence, Rougned Odor dropped a throw to second for an error, Mitch Moreland tried to go for the force at home instead of stepping on first base and was late, then Elvis Andrus bobbled a throw at second and could only recover to get one out. That led to three of the four runs scored off of Rangers right-hander Chi Chi Gonzalez being unearned. Gonzalez was lifted, however, with two outs in the first inning.
Kepler hit his first three-run homer in the second inning, as the Twins took a 7-1 lead.
The Twins took an 11-1 lead in the third inning, which included a two-run home run by Sano. Texas scored three in the fourth to get within 11-4. But the Twins leveled the Rangers with six runs in the fifth inning, the most they have scored in one inning this season. That's when Kepler launched his second three-run homer of the game.
