MINNEAPOLIS — Adolis García homered and Corey Seager singled home the go-ahead run in the sixth inning as the Texas Rangers defeated the Minnesota Twins 2-1 on Monday night.
Twins star outfielder Byron Buxton exited in the seventh with right hip tightness. A team spokesman said he’s considered day-to-day.
Texas took three of four in the weekend wraparound series and is 5-3 since replacing Chris Woodward with interim manager Tony Beasley last week.
The playoff-contending Twins turned their second triple play of the season after first baseman Jose Miranda caught Nathaniel Lowe's line drive in the fourth.
A.J. Alexy (1-0) pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of starter Cole Ragans to earn the win. Brett Martin, José Leclerc and Matt Moore blanked the Twins the rest of the way, with Moore earning his third save of the season.
Sonny Gray (7-4) gave up two runs on five hits while fanning six. He gave up three singles in the sixth inning, with Seager’s hit driving home Brad Miller to give Texas the lead.
Over the first three games of the series, the Twins were 1 for 19 with runners in scoring position, and those struggles continued again on Monday.
In the first inning, Carlos Correa hit a one-out triple on a ball that center fielder Leody Tavares lost in the sun. Buxton walked and stole second. But Miranda struck out and Max Kepler grounded out to end the threat.
In the third, Miranda and Kepler again had a chance to put the Twins ahead with two on and one out, but Miranda grounded out and Kepler flied out to keep the game scoreless.
The Twins finally broke through in the fourth inning when Nick Gordon’s double drove home Gio Urshela from third for the game’s first run. It was their only hit in seven at-bats with runners in scoring position on the night.
Texas tied it when García hit the first pitch of the fifth inning deep into the second deck in left-center. The hit extended his career-best hitting streak to 19 games.
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