MINNEAPOLIS _ After about 2,000 feet worth of home runs left the score tied, the Twins scored the game-winner with about an inch to spare Sunday.
Brian Dozier, Max Kepler and Eddie Rosario all hit home runs, and the Twins rallied from a five-run deficit to salvage a split with the Rangers with a 6-5 win. But the game-winning run almost didn't count.
Robbie Grossman drove a single off the right-field wall with two outs in the fifth inning, and Eduardo Escobar headed home from second base. Grossman decided to try to stretch his hit into a double, though, and was thrown out in a close play _ a fraction of a second before Escobar touched the plate. Had he taken just a split-second longer to reach the plate, his run would have been disallowed, and the umpires consulted with the replay ump to affirm that he made it.
The play turned out to be huge, because the Twins bullpen, in relief of Jose Berrios, made it stand up. Trevor Hildenberger pitched two innings with no trouble, Taylor Rogers had a 1-2-3 eighth, and Matt Belisle earned the Twins' first save since Brandon Kintzler was traded a week ago, pitching a perfect ninth. It was Belisle's sixth career save in a 14-year career, and his first since Oct. 3, 2012, while with Colorado.
Berrios, who had not surrendered a home run in a month, allowed a three-run homer to Adrian Beltre and a mammoth, 440-foot blast by Joey Gallo in a five-run first inning. But he settled down after that, and earned his 10th victory by completing five innings without allowing another run.
Dozier's homer gave him 20 on the season, making him the ninth Twin ever to hit 20 in four consecutive seasons. He left the game shortly afterward, after becoming sick.
