Byron Buxton’s bat backs righty David Festa as Twins top Rangers

Byron Buxton went 3-for-3 with a double, a home run and three RBIs, and the Minnesota Twins pulled away for a 6-2 win over the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night in Minneapolis.
Willi Castro finished 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs for Minnesota, which evened the series at a win apiece with the rubber match scheduled for Thursday afternoon. Carlos Correa had two hits, including a double, and drove in a run.
Marcus Semien homered for the Rangers, whose three-game winning streak was halted. Josh Smith went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
Twins right-hander David Festa (1-1) held the Rangers to two runs on three hits and two walks in six innings, striking out four. The 25-year-old earned his first victory since Aug. 5, 2024, against the Chicago Cubs.
Rangers right-hander Jack Leiter (4-3) took the loss for the first time in six starts. He allowed four runs on five hits and four walks in four innings, striking out three.
Twins relief pitchers Brock Stewart, Louis Varland and Jhoan Duran followed Festa with three scoreless innings combined to preserve the victory. Duran ended the game by getting the Rangers’ Adolis Garcia to ground out to second base.
Texas opened the scoring on Semien’s solo home run in the second.
The Rangers went up 2-0 one inning later on Smith’s RBI double to center field.
Buxton put the Twins on top for good with a three-run homer in the bottom of the third. Brooks Lee hit a leadoff double and Christian Vazquez drew a walk before Buxton crushed a 479-foot homer to center field to make it 3-2.
The blast marked Buxton’s 11th homer of the season and his first since May 15.
Minnesota added three runs in the fifth to increase its lead to 6-2.
Castro started the scoring with a two-run triple to left that scored Matt Wallner and Ty France. Wallner had reached on a fielder’s choice, and France got on base with a single.
One batter later, Correa ripped a ground-rule double to drive in Castro and finish the scoring.