Rangers recap: Twins jump on Martinez early and often in rout of Texas

The Twins belted 18 hits, including 11 off Rangers’ starter Nick Martinez, to take Game 2 11-1 Wednesday at Target Field. Minnesota pulled a full game ahead of Texas in the wildcard standings with the win. The teams play the series finale at 12:10 p.m. Thursday.

Pitching: Martinez gave up seven runs (four earned) on 11 hits in 3 2/3 innings. Three of the hits were homers, including by Aaron Hicks, who led off the first and two by Miguel Sano. Sano’s three-run homer in the fourth followed a fielding error by shortstop Elvis Andrus on a soft roller behind second base with two outs. The Twins added three more in the fifth to take a 10-0 lead against Anthony Bass, who entered to get the final out in the fourth. Minnesota scored four more in the fifth as four of the first five reached with hits, including two infield singles and a two-run double by Brian Dozier. Sano’s sacrifice fly to right finished off the inning for the Twins and made it 11-0.

Hitting: The Rangers were held to one hit — a Shin-Soo Choo double in the fourth — through the first five innings. With two outs in the sixth, Texas finally mounted a sustained offense, beginning with Delino DeShields double to left and a Choo’s walk. Prince Fielder singled to left, scoring DeShields. Adrian Beltre followed with a single to left but Choo was throw out at home trying to score from second.

Notable: Sano’s six RBI is a season-high be a Twins player this season and tied a club record for RBI in a game by a rookie ... Choo had his first multi-hit game since July 29.

This story was originally published August 12, 2015 at 10:03 PM with the headline "Rangers recap: Twins jump on Martinez early and often in rout of Texas."