Comeback kids: Willie Calhoun, Adolis Garcia’s late-game heroics lift Rangers past Twins in latest comeback win

MINNEAPOLIS — The only sound in the entire stadium was the cheers emanating from the visitors dugout along the third-base line.

This isn’t 2020. There are fans in the stands. They just watched in a brief stunned silence as Adolis Garcia’s arcing two-run homer in the 10th inning sailed over the left field fence.

Suddenly the boos started raining down from the 8,022 that braved the brisk evening. The Rangers had scored two in the ninth to tie, then would go on to score three in the 10th to break it open.

It’d taken starting pitcher Kyle Gibson off the hook after his electric eight-inning masterpiece of a homecoming. And the Rangers continued a trend of late comebacks in the 6-3 victory at Target Field.

For the first eight innings, the Rangers offense was dormant. Outside of a first-inning RBI single from Garcia, there weren’t many chances.

That early lead was immediately erased by a Byron Buxton 433-foot blast into the bullpen. It was the first home run of the season allowed by Gibson. He’d allow another in the 5th inning.

But that was all that he’d allow. He threw 21 pitches in that first inning, but only 86 over the next seven innings. The former Twin who spent 11 years in the organization struck out eight and walked two — capping his night with Josh Donaldson striking out looking on a 3-2 count.

The ninth-inning comeback for the Rangers started powerfully with a home run from Willie Calhoun off closer Taylor Rodgers. The Twins lefty closer hadn’t allowed a home run this season coming into the series, but has allowed two the last two nights to lefty hitters.

Charlie Culberson hit a slow roller to third, reaching on the error by Donaldson. Then Andy Ibanez, making his MLB debut, scooted a single between third and short. Jose Trevino bunted them over. Then Culberson scored on a sac fly to shortstop, making a heads up baserunning play.

The Rangers have made a habit early this month of coming back. They came back from two runs down twice to defeat the Red Sox on May 1. Then came back from two runs down on May 2 to win. On Monday, the Rangers scored five runs in the eighth and ninth in a one-run loss.

Then the comeback on Tuesday happened.

If the purpose of the 2021 season is to evaluate what kind of players this team has and what kind of future it could envision, this is a good precedent to set.

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