ARLINGTON, Texas _ The Twins continue to walk their way on base, but can't consistently knock the baserunners in. This was the case again on Tuesday _ at least early.
Runs didn't start crossing the plate until baseballs landed in the seats, then the Twins couldn't stop scoring, thanks to a seven-run fifth inning that led to an 8-1 victory at Globe Life Park.
With one more game left in the series, the Twins have a shot to sweep the Rangers on the road for the first time since 1976, when they played old Arlington Stadium.
The Twins entered Tuesday leading the majors in walks, but what good are all the walks when few of them score?
That was the astonishing thing about the Twins' start on Tuesday. Rangers right-hander Andrew Cashner gave up six walks over the first four innings.
The Twins loaded the bases in the first, had two on in the second and the leadoff hitter on in the third. None of them scored.
Then the game changed when they traded walks for extra-base hits.
Once Kennys Vargas made solid contact with a Cashner pitch to lead off the fourth, the floodgates opened and the Twins began circling the bases.
Vargas lined a home run into the right field seats to open the scoring.
Miguel Sano got ahold of an 0-2 Cashner pitch in the fifth and launched it an estimated 437 feet into the club level for a 2-0 lead. It was the 21st time in the ballpark's history that a ball has landed on that level.
That was it for Cashner. His wildness led to 95 pitches into the fifth inning.
Cashner once was a big-armed prospect who was traded for Anthony Rizzo. He never harnessed his talents and now barely reaches 93 miles per hour with his fastball. He allowed 11 baserunners in four-plus innings.
Although the Twins failed to knock Cashner out earlier, they were now into the soft underbelly of a pitching staff _ middle relief.
Anthony Bass replaced Cashner, and the Twins hammered the right-hander.
Joe Mauer, Jorge Polanco and Jason Castro greeted Bass with doubles, scoring two more runs. Castro scored on a wild pitch. Byron Buxton hit an RBI single. Brian Dozier had an RBI groundout. Sano batted for the second time in the inning and delivered an RBI single.
The seven-run fifth was the Twins' highest-scoring inning of the young season. They scored six in the sixth inning on Friday against Detroit.
After drawing six walks over the first four innings of the game, the Twins had six extra-base hits by the end of the fifth.
Buxton's adjustments at the plate _ at the behest of Torii Hunter _ are yielding early dividends. After drawing two walks on Monday, Buxton had a walk and two singles in his first three plate appearances Tuesday, raising his batting average to .136. His single in the fifth was even toward the right field side of second base, a sign he's trying not to pull the ball as much.
Twins right-hander Ervin Santana had to wonder over the first few innings if he was going to have to white knuckle his way through the game. He ended up with a nice cushion with to work. Joey Gallo got him for a solo homer in the fifth to make the score 8-1. Santana went seven innings, giving up the one run and four hits while striking out six and walking two.
