The Texas Rangers were eliminated from postseason contention on the final day of the regular season with a 6-4 loss Sunday to the Minnesota Twins, who got a home run and three RBIs from Josh Bell to back Dean Kremer's seven innings of one-run pitching.
Texas (80-82) needed a win and a Houston loss to the Athletics. The Astros (81-81), who held the division tiebreaker, beat the Athletics 9-0.
Minnesota finished 77-85, a seven-win improvement in manager Derek Shelton's first season. After the game, Shelton took time to thank the fans.
"I think to finish with a series win at home is really important," Shelton said. "And you know, first off, you appreciate how Dean Kremer came out and threw the ball. It was outstanding, but I mean, I think I would be remiss at the end, I know our group was very much wanting to thank the fans, people that supported us through the ups and downs this year. And you know, we had our fair share of both, but they were there throughout and I was really pleased with our player group and our staff in terms of being able to show the support for the people that motivate us every day."
Kremer (5-5) gave up three hits, retiring 15 of his last 16 hitters. He went 4-1 with a 3.48 ERA in 10 starts after the Twins acquired him from Baltimore on Aug. 1.
Bell's first-inning sacrifice fly fly was offset by Danny Jansen's third-inning solo homer for the Rangers. Bell put the Twins ahead for good at 3-1 with a two-run homer off reliever Chase Silseth (0-2).
After the win, Bell, who is a free agent, singled out Shelton for creating a space that the players enjoyed playing in.
"I think it all starts with Shelton," said Bell. "I think he did a great job creating the atmosphere, creating the culture in spring training, bringing in the coaching staff. There's not a lot of places that guys will show up and put their shower shoes on, and go hang out in the cage and play games, and just vibe hours and hours before the games. As soon as you show up, made it fun to show up every day. So, definitely just a testament to him and the coaching staff as a whole. Definitely a pleasure to be around all these guys."
Texas used six pitchers through the first five innings as manager Skip Schumaker tried to exploit matchup advantages, but the Twins stretched their lead to 5-1 in the fifth. Walker Jenkins led off with a single against Tyler Alexander. Jakob Junis then entered the game and walked three of the next four hitters, forcing in a run.
Kody Clemens greeted Jordan Montgomery with an RBI single.
Elias Diaz homered off A.J. Minter in the eighth, but Royce Lewis hit a solo homer in the bottom half.
Corey Seager hit his 20th home run of the year, a two-run shot off Andrew Morris, in the ninth.
Twins looking forward to 2027 - but labor strife stands in the way
The Twins now move into an offseason with a very young core of players. Shelton thinks there is a lot for fans to be excited about.
"It's the fact that Emma's (Emmanuel Rodríguez) explosiveness is real, and it's something that I don't think that, that I truly realized in spring training," said Shelton. "Maybe we didn't see it, but it's real. And then for Walker Jenkins, I mean, a guy that starts 4 for 43 and his first homers off position player, to do what he did out west, you know, to do what he did, even coming home in this home stand? If you're a Twins fan, like, I'm buying a Jenkins jersey. I'm buying a Culpepper jersey. I'm buying a Rodríguez shirt. Like there's things to build on there with guys that are young."
Those late season callups are just the start, as Shelton points out.
"When you look out and you see an outfield and the oldest guy's 25 years old? And then you look at Brooksy (Brooks Lee) and he's 25 years old? Like, that is a good foundation of core and that doesn't even talk about (Buxton) in there," adds Shelton. "So, there's a lot of really positive things that I hope our fan base can embrace."
It's also going to be an offseason with a lot of question marks due to a labor situation with MLB. The current collective bargaining agreement expires December 1st, and there is a pretty strong consensus that an owners lockout is coming. The sides are reportedly a long way apart, and it could put at least the start of the 2027 season in jeopardy.
There's time to get a deal done, but it appears owners are set on asking for things, like a salary cap, that have been non-starters for the players union so far.
