Twins 7, Rangers 2
Josh Willingham had two hits, including a two-run homer, and Pedro Hernandez threw five scoreless innings to earn the victory for host Minnesota.
Hernandez (1-0) scattered five hits before relievers Anthony Swarzak, Brian Duensing, Jared Burton and Glen Perkins combined to hold the Rangers down until Mitch Moreland hit a two-run double with two outs in the ninth. Eduardo Escobar, who started at third base in place of Trevor Plouffe, contributed two hits for the Twins, who dropped the first two games of the series.
Rangers starter Derek Holland (1-2) allowed four runs (three earned) and five hits in seven innings. His biggest mistake was a 3-1 off-speed pitch to Willingham in the sixth inning, which he sat on for a towering two-run homer to left and a 3-0 lead.
The Twins took advantage of a Texas error and their only hit through the first five innings off Holland to take a 1-0 lead in the third inning. Aaron Hicks reached on an error by Moreland to start the inning, Escobar singled to left to put runners on the corners and Brian Dozier lifted a sacrifice fly to center.
The Twins added a run in the seventh and three more in the eighth, the final two coming home on a double by Hicks. Twins designated hitter Oswaldo Arcia contributed a walk, a single and two runs scored.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Willingham now has 25 homers in 83 games at Target Field. … Rangers SS Leury Garcia made his second major-league start in place of Elvis Andrus, who was given the day off. Jeff Baker also returned after getting knocked out of Monday's game against the Los Angeles Angels with a knee contusion. He played third base for Texas with Adrian Beltre moving to designated hitter. … The Rangers had runners erased on the base paths in each of the first two innings, put runners on second and third with one out in the third and a runner at third with one out in the eighth but couldn’t capitalize.