Jake Burger's fifth-inning swing put a second Texas home run on the Target Field scoreboard and stretched a lead the Rangers never surrendered. The first baseman went 1-for-5 with a solo homer - his team-leading 28th - as Texas beat the Minnesota Twins 6-2 on Saturday and kept the AL West race alive into Sunday.
The Associated Press credited Burger with going deep after Danny Jansen's leadoff shot in the fourth. Per the CBS Sports box score, Burger finished 1-for-5 with one RBI and one run on the solo drive to center. Texas moved to 80-81. Minnesota dropped to 76-85.
Solo shot after the early burst
Texas had already built a 5-1 lead before Burger came up in the fifth. A two-out, four-run second - Lopez double, Jansen RBI single, then RBI doubles from Carter, Osuna and Nimmo - and Jansen's fourth-inning homer had flipped a 1-0 deficit.
Burger's drive to center made it 6-1 and closed the book on Bailey Ober (7-7), who allowed six runs on 10 hits in five innings.
Burger's night was not a multi-hit showcase. It was one swing that mattered on a night when Texas needed every insurance run it could get after Friday's 10-2 loss. The 28th home run also kept him alone atop the club's leaderboard with one game left in the regular season.
Context around the first-base spot
Texas played without Josh Jung, on the 10-day IL with a broken right hand from Friday's HBP, the AP reported. Nicky Lopez left in the fourth with a left ankle/heel-area injury; Cody Freeman took his place. Burger stayed in the middle of a shuffled infield and supplied the fifth-inning cushion while Ezequiel Duran shifted between third and second.
