Rangers eliminated from postseason contention on final day with 6-4 loss to Twins

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Texas Rangers were eliminated from postseason contention on the final day of the regular season with a 6-4 loss Sunday to the Minnesota Twins, who got a home run and three RBIs from Josh Bell to back Dean Kremer’s seven innings of one-run pitching.

Texas (80-82) needed a win and a Houston loss to the Athletics. The Astros (81-81), who held the division tiebreaker, beat the Athletics 9-0.

Minnesota finished 77-85, a seven-win improvement in manager Derek Shelton’s first season.

Kremer (5-5) gave up three hits, retiring 15 of his last 16 hitters. He went 4-1 with a 3.48 ERA in 10 starts after the Twins acquired him from Baltimore on Aug. 1.

Bell’s first-inning sacrifice fly fly was offset by Danny Jansen’s third-inning solo homer for the Rangers. Bell put the Twins ahead for good at 3-1 with a two-run homer off reliever Chase Silseth (0-2).

Texas used six pitchers through the first five innings as manager Skip Schumaker tried to exploit matchup advantages, but the Twins stretched their lead to 5-1 in the fifth. Walker Jenkins led off with a single against Tyler Alexander. Jakob Junis then entered the game and walked three of the next four hitters, forcing in a run.

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Kody Clemens greeted Jordan Montgomery with an RBI single.

Elias Diaz homered off A.J. Minter in the eighth, but Royce Lewis hit a solo homer in the bottom half.

Corey Seager hit his 20th home run of the year, a two-run shot off Andrew Morris, in the ninth.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb