Twins rally in eighth inning, take down Rangers for third consecutive win

Willi Castro's bases-clearing hit catapulted the Twins to a victory on Saturday night.

Aug 17, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Minnesota Twins starting pitcher David Festa (58) throws during the first inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field. / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

With three runs scoring on one swing of the bat in the eighth inning, the Twins rallied to beat the Rangers 5-2 at Globe Life Field on Saturday night. In the biggest spot of the game, All-Star Willi Castro delivered a two-run single off of David Robertson that cleared the bases due to an error. It's the third straight win for the Twins, who will look to complete a four-game road sweep on Sunday.

Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi was outstanding through seven innings, allowing just a solo blast to Trevor Larnach and three total hits. But Texas may have left him in the game too long. He came out for the eighth, leading 2-1, and immediately gave up singles to Edouard Julien and Christian Vazquez before a bunt hit by Austin Martin loaded the bases with no outs.

That's when Castro greeted Robertson with a huge hit on his second pitch of the evening. It's what the Twins — who lead MLB in runs scored in the seventh inning or later — have done all season.

Willi Castro puts the ball in play and It's a 4-2 lead for the #MNTwins ‼ pic.twitter.com/SLYN9rfz6q

— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) August 18, 2024

Just like that, a one-run deficit had turned into a two-run lead. The Twins then got a sharp eighth inning performance from Jorge Alcala, who has been excellent this year. In the top of the ninth, they added an insurance run on a Kyle Farmer sacrifice fly. And with Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax both unavailable, Cole Sands took the ball in the home half of the ninth and picked up his fourth save of the season.

Rookie David Festa was solid in his seventh big league outing. He went five innings, allowing two runs on six hits. Festa generated 15 whiffs and struck out six batters, complementing his mid-90s fastball with effective changeups and sliders. The 24-year-old looks like a promising part of the present and the future in the Twins' rotation.

Texas struck first on a Carson Kelly RBI single in the second inning, but the Twins tied it in the fourth on Larnach's first home run since July 26. The Rangers would retake the lead in the bottom of the inning on a run-scoring double from Kelly.

Trevor pulled the lever! pic.twitter.com/OCVEqbBaeb

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) August 17, 2024

Ronny Henriquez, who pitched the sixth and seventh for Minnesota, got credit for his first major league win.

The Twins are now a season-high 17 games above .500 at 70-53. They're just two games behind the Guardians in the AL Central after Cleveland lost to Milwaukee again. Minnesota will look to complete the sweep on Sunday when Pablo Lopez takes on former Twin Tyler Mahle at 1:35 p.m. CT.