MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - After the Twins stranded the winning run on third base in the bottom of the 10th, the Rangers' Rougned Odor slammed a three-run homer in the top of the 11th inning to give Texas a 4-1 win Sunday at Target Field.
The Twins took two of three from Texas, but still saw their once-dominant lead in the AL Central shrink to 5 1/2 games over the streaking Cleveland Indians, who beat Cincinnati 11-1 for their sixth straight win.
Starting Friday, the Twins and Indians meet for three games in Cleveland.
Unlike many times during the first half of the season, the Twins failed to come up with the key hit in the final game before the All-Star Break.
Minnesota had runners on second and third with no outs in the fourth. But Miguel Sano was thrown out at home trying to score on Byron Buxton's grounder to third. Buxton stole second base, but was thrown out at third by Gallo after Max Kepler's flyout just before Jonathan Schoop crossed the plate.
In the 10th, Mitch Garver popped out with runners on second and third with two outs, breaking his bat when he slammed it to the ground in exasperation.
"We've done this several times already this year where we just play these long games," Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli said. "For all the runs that have been scored this year, we've played a number of games that were kind of way on the other end of the spectrum. ... A couple of runs would have gotten it done tonight, but it wasn't meant to be."
The Twins scored in the second inning when Buxton tripled to the corner in left field, scoring Sano from first base.
Former Twins infielder Danny Santana drove in the Rangers' first run with a fourth-inning single, one of his four hits in the series finale.
Odor's 13th homer of the season, into the bullpens in left-center field, came off Minnesota left-hander Adalberto Mejia (0-2). Mejia walked Joey Gallo and Asdrubal Cabrera ahead of Odor's one-out home run.
Shawn Kelley (4-2) pitched two innings for Texas, which had lost six of its previous seven games and three straight series.
MIX AND MATCH
The game was supposed to be a matchup of All-Star starters, but Texas skipped Mike Minor to give the left-hander extra rest. Minnesota's Jake Odorizzi was placed on the injured list earlier in the week with a blister, but is expected to return to the rotation after the break.
In their place, the Rangers started reliever Jose Leclerc, who threw 30 pitches in Saturday's game. Leclerc allowed a run in 1 2/3 innings.
The Twins went with starter Kyle Gibson on short rest. Gibson pitched an inning because he was scheduled to have a long break between starts. Left-hander Devin Smeltzer was recalled to be the long reliever on Sunday. He pitched 4 1/3 innings and gave up one run and five hits and a walk.
UMPIRE CHANGE
To start the eighth inning, home plate umpire Gerry Davis was replaced by Brian Knight. Davis umpired the seventh inning with a towel around his neck on a warm day in Minnesota.
The official temperature at the start was 81 degrees with very few clouds and little breeze. The final two innings were played with three umpires as Davis didn't return following the switch.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Jake Cave pinch-ran for Max Kepler in the 10th inning. Kepler led off with a single to right and was checked on by the team's athletic trainer but stayed in. After he reached second, Kepler was removed from the game though the team didn't provide an update during the game.
UP NEXT
Twins: Following the All-Star Game in Cleveland, Minnesota will have a three-game road series against their division rivals, the Indians, starting Friday. Manager Rocco Baldelli wasn't ready to announce his rotation coming out of the break.