ARLINGTON -- Give these Twins an inch, and they’ll take a mile.\n\nIt should have been a scoreless first frame for Rangers starter Ariel Jurado, who allowed a pair of singles but induced what looked to be an inning-ending double play off the bat of
But the Twins also created their own opportunities throughout the evening, as every hitter in the lineup but Rosario and Arraez reached base at least twice. Gonzalez,
Cave’s third hit set up Sano for his 23rd homer of the season in the ninth inning, giving the Twins a pair of insurance runs. The big third baseman also singled in the first and second innings and crushed all three of his hits, with exit velocities of 106.8 mph, 110.6 mph and 111.5 mph, according to Statcast. He has three homers in his last four games.\n\n“I just tried to hit the ball to second base today,” Sano said. “They made good pitches, and I just tried to make good contact and hit the ball hard.\"\n\n**2\\. Despite ugly pitching line, Berrios confident in mechanical fix**\n\nThat early flurry of runs proved important, as [Jose Berrios](https://www.mlb.com/player/jose-berrios-621244) was hit hard for the second time this month, allowing seven runs in 4 1/3 innings, including a pair of homers by former teammate Danny Santana. Four of the runs off Berrios were unearned after Sano’s fielding error in the second inning.\n\nIt marked Berrios’ second tough outing in his last three starts -- the right-hander allowed a career-high nine runs to the Braves on Aug. 6 -- but he felt that his performance was still trending in the right direction on Saturday despite the ugly pitching line.\n\nBerrios has been working with pitching coaches Wes Johnson and Jeremy Hefner to correct his mechanics over his last several starts. Berrios saw his fastball velocity tick up to an average of 93.6 mph on Saturday after hovering around 90-92 mph over his last several appearances. He felt that he missed a few locations with his fastballs but was, overall, pleased with the progress.\n\n“I think he deserved better than what his line’s going to end up looking like after this game,” Baldelli said. “I actually feel pretty strongly about that, and we could have put him in a better spot and gotten him out of some innings because he gave us a chance, too, and we just didn’t get it done.”
**3\\. Benches clear after misunderstanding**\n\nThe eighth inning saw the benches and both bullpens spill onto the field after Rangers reliever Shawn Kelley and Gonzalez jawed at each other following an inning-ending groundout by Gonzalez that ended a run-scoring rally by the Twins.\n\nKelley had been at the center of some controversy in the series opener Thursday, when Cave singled on a 3-0 pitch in the ninth inning of a blowout and the Twins felt that the right-hander intentionally hit