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Beltre, Chirinos pace Rangers past Twins 9-6

MINNEAPOLIS — Adrian Beltre had three hits, including his 466th career home run to move into 34th place on the all-time list, and Robinson Chirinos homered and drove in three runs to lead the Texas Rangers to their seventh straight victory, 9-6, over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday, June 23, at Target Field.

Beltre’s towering fourth-inning homer into the bullpen in left-center was his fourth of the season and passed Dave Winfield and Miguel Cabrera on the all-time list. He needs two more home runs to catch Chipper Jones (468) for 33rd place.

Shin-Soo Choo extended his consecutive on-base streak to 36 games with an RBI ground-rule double and a walk. It’s the longest active streak in the majors and ties the longest by a Rangers player since Mark Teixeira in 2006.

Yovani Gallardo (1-0) gave up six hits and four runs over 5 1/3 to pick up the win for Texas. Keone Kela recorded the final two outs to pick up his 18th save in 18 tries and 20th in a row over two seasons. Third baseman Jurickson Profar was hit by a pitch three times, tying his club record set on June 9 against Houston.

Eddie Rosario homered and doubled to drive in four runs, Logan Morrison also homered and Mitch Garver had three hits for the Twins, who suffered their third straight loss.

Jake Odorizzi (3-5), who entered the contest with a 4-0 lifetime record against the Rangers and a 2.02 ERA, took the loss, allowing six runs on six hits in 1 2/3 innings, just the second time in 142 career starts that he failed to complete two innings and the first time not because of an injury.

The Twins, who had managed just a total of seven hits and three runs in back-to-back losses to Boston and the Rangers, took a 2-0 lead in the first on Rosario’s 17th homer of the season, driving in Joe Mauer.

Texas answered with a six-run second that saw 11 batters go to the plate and featured a pair of singles by Beltre and two-run singles by both Delino DeShields and Nomar Mazara to go along with Choo’s RBI line double down the left line and a bases-loaded walk to Chirinos.

Chirinos made it 8-2 with a two-run homer to left in the third, his ninth of the season, followed by Beltre’s solo shot in the fourth.

Morrison hit a two-run homer into the plaza behind the right field bleachers in the sixth, his eighth of the season, to cut the Texas lead to 9-4.

Rosario lined a bases-loaded double down the left field line off Kela with one out in the ninth to drive in two runs, but the Rangers closer rebounded to strike out Eduardo Escobar and Morrison around a walk to Brian Dozier.

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