Evan Carter turned a two-out rally into a lead Texas never relinquished. The center fielder went 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored Saturday at Target Field as the Rangers beat the Minnesota Twins 6-2 and kept the AL West race alive for the final day of the regular season.
The Associated Press described a four-run second in which Carter, Alejandro Osuna and Brandon Nimmo each delivered RBI doubles after Danny Jansen's RBI single. Per the CBS Sports box score, Carter finished 2-for-4 with a double, one RBI and one run; he was also caught stealing once. Texas improved to 80-81. Minnesota fell to 76-85.
The double that made it 2-1
Bailey Ober had two outs and a 1-0 lead when Nicky Lopez doubled and Jansen singled Lopez home. Alan Roden's throwing error moved Jansen to second. Carter doubled to right-center, scoring Jansen for a 2-1 Texas lead. Osuna and Nimmo followed with RBI doubles of their own, and the inning ended 4-1.
Carter's hit was the middle swing of that cascade - the one that flipped the scoreboard from tied to ahead. He later singled in the eighth before being caught stealing, a footnote on a night defined by the second-inning double.
The rain delay of 2 hours, 1 minute that preceded first pitch did not slow that half-inning once Texas finally got two runners aboard with two outs.
Bottom of the order carries the night
The AP noted the bottom three batters in Texas' starting lineup went 6-for-11 with four RBIs and four runs. Carter, batting eighth, was the hinge between Jansen's production and Osuna's. Jansen later added a leadoff homer in the fourth; Jake Burger hit his team-leading 28th in the fifth.
