For the third time in their past seven games, a Twins opponent put up a pair of touchdowns on Thursday.
Leadoff hitter Josh Smith greeted Twins starter Bailey Ober with a home run and the Rangers never really stopped hitting as Texas beat Minnesota, 16-3, in front of an announced crowd of 23,995 at Target Field to win two in a three-game series.
The Twins tied the game 1-1 on a run-scoring single by Carlos Correa in their half of the first, but Texas soon broke away and never had to look back.
The Rangers hit six home runs. Jake Burger hit a two-run homer, and Wyatt Langford a three-run shot off Ober in the Rangers’ five-run second inning, giving Texas a 6-1 lead that was never seriously threatened.
Texas Rangers’ Marcus Semien celebrates after scoring on a single hit by Jake Burger during the sixth inning of baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Thursday, June 12, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)
The Twins loaded the bases with no outs against Texas left-hander Patrick Corbin with two hits and a walk to start the second inning, but Byron Buxton popped out, Ryan Jeffers struck out and Carlos Correa popped out to end the threat in short order.
The Twins lost the last game of a four-game set against the A’s last week in Sacramento, 14-3, and lost to the Rangers on Monday, 16-4. Infielder Jonah Bride pitched cleanup in each of those games, and did it again on Thursday. After a clean eighth inning, Bride gave up a three-run, pinch-hit home run to Sam Haggerty in the ninth.
Ober (4-3) was tagged for seven earned runs on six hits — four of them home runs — and seven walks in 4⅔ innings.
The Twins chased Corbin (4-5) with none out in the sixth inning when Ty France, Royce Lewis and Willi Castro each hit safely — Castro’s a run-scoring double — and Brooks Lee drove in a run with a groundout off reliever Hoby Milner to make it 13-3.
Evan Carter hit a solo homer in the fifth, and Adolis Garcia hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning against new reliever Joey Wentz, who arrived in Minnesota on Thursday after being claimed off waivers from Pittsburgh.