Martinez, Rangers watch big early lead slip away in loss to Twins

Nick Martinez couldn’t hold a five-run first-inning lead Sunday, and home runs by Adrian Beltre and Joey Gallo were wasted as the Texas Rangers lost x-x in the series finale with the Minnesota Twins.

Beltre and Gallo connected in the first, Beltre with a three-run shot and Gallo with a two-run blast that was estimated at 438 feet.

The Twins charged back on the strength of two two-run homers in the second and a solo shot in the third to tie the game. Martinez was gone in the fifth, when the Twins scored against Austin Bibens-Dirkx to break the tie.

Beltre had a scary moment in the third, as he was hit in the back of the head by a Mike Napoli foul ball while standing at the dugout railing. Immediately headed to the clubhouse and didn’t return until his at-bat in the fifth.

He went through the concussion protocol and was cleared to keep playing.　　

How Rangers hitters fared: The first inning was great. The other eight innings weren’t. ... The Rangers scored five time to open the game, with Adrian Beltre and Joey Gallo going deep. ... Beltre hit a three-run homer, his 10th of the season, and Gallo connected for a two-run shot, his 30th of the season. ... After collecting three hits in the first, the Rangers had only four over the final eight innings. Three of those were by Elvis Andrus, including two doubles.　　

How Rangers pitchers fared: Nick Martinez tossed a scoreless first inning with a 5-0 lead but had coughed it up by the third. ... Martinez allowed two-run homers to Max Kepler and Brian Dozier in the second and a solo shot to Eddie Rosario in the third. ... Martinez left after four innings, and Austin Bibens-Dirkx surrendered the go-ahead run with two outs in the fifth. ... Matt Bush worked a perfect sixth inning, and Alex Claudio tossed two more scoreless innings ahead of an off day Monday.

This story was originally published August 6, 2017 at 4:38 PM with the headline "Martinez, Rangers watch big early lead slip away in loss to Twins."