ARLINGTON, Texas — On Friday, it was the Rangers who overcame an early 3-0 deficit with a big five-hit, six-run inning. On Saturday, the Twins fell short of doing the same.
The Twins lost, 9-7, at Globe Life Field, dropping to 47-40 atop the American League Central. The Rangers improved to 39-43 in the middle of the West division.
Twins starter Devin Smeltzer put the Twins behind in the second inning, giving up a leadoff walk and a single before Kole Calhoun smacked a three-run homer. But the Twins exploited Rangers starter Martin Perez in the fourth inning to claim the lead.
Carlos Correa started with a leadoff double, and Jorge Polanco walked before Jose Miranda's home run tied the game. Gio Urshela then singled just ahead of Gary Sanchez's two-run homer. Byron Buxton tallied an RBI double as well to give the Twins a 6-3 lead.
But that didn't last very long at all. Smeltzer surrendered his second three-run homer of the game to Marcus Semien in the bottom of the fourth and then immediately offered a solo homer to Corey Seager for the Rangers to retake a one-run lead. That ended his day after just 3 1/3 innings with seven runs on eight hits and three walks. He struck out two.
The Twins leveled the game once again in the eighth inning, thanks to key pinch hits from Luis Arraez and Max Kepler that helped load the bases. Gilberto Celestino then drove in a run on his groundout.
Jhoan Duran came in for the bottom of the eighth and set the Twins back again, giving up two runs on three hits, including an RBI triple for Semien and a RBI single to Mitch Garver. Duran took the loss and is 0-3 this season.
Garver's last stand
Before the premature end of Garver's 2022 season, the former Twins catcher was able to beat the team that traded him this past offseason twice. And he had to admit, it felt pretty good.
"Absolutely. Are you kidding me?" Garver said. "I want to sweep them."
Garver spent his entire professional career with the Twins — drafted in 2013 before making his MLB debut in 2017 — before his swap to Texas. That trade was one of several moves the Twins' front office made to revamp a squad that flopped in 2021 and was one of the building blocks in helping to bring star free agent Carlos Correa to Minnesota.
Texas wasn't exactly a fresh start for Garver, who unfortunately is in a familiar position of being injured. He will have surgery Monday morning on to repair the flexor tendon in his right throwing arm and will need about seven months to recover.
Garver said he wasn't trying to time the operation so that he could be the designated hitter against the Twins. But that it worked out that way did give him a chance to reconnect with his ex-teammates. He had a long chat with Twins manager Rocco Baldelli and Smeltzer ahead of Friday's game. He also hugged Buxton and Kepler.
"They were like, 'Hey, man, we miss you. We hope everything's good,' " Garver said. "I was like, 'Yeah, I miss you guys, too.' I'd be lying if I said I wasn't."
Garver's breakout season for the Twins was in 2019, when he hit 31 home runs in 93 games. But injuries have prevented him from repeating that success with the Twins and the Rangers.
"He's going to get himself right. He's going to get the procedure done, which seems like the right thing to do," Baldelli said. "And I'm sure when he hits the field again, he's going to be a really good major league player."
Thornburg back with Saints
Reliever Tyler Thornburg, whom the Twins designated for assignment earlier this month, cleared waivers and accepted a spot back with the Class AAA Saints. He has a 2.79 ERA through 9 2/3 innings with the Twins this season.
