MLB Rankings: Greatest Hits in Week-15
9. Rougned Odor, 38 percent
The Texas Rangers remain well behind the Houston Astros in the AL West. The Minnesota Twins, meanwhile, are establishing themselves as the AL Central’s new muscle. But the Rangers are no pushovers, as the Twins learned last weekend.
Trying for a sweep of the teams’ three-game series, the majors’ most prolific home run team ran into a power display led by Odor, who showed that Texas remains a club to be feared.
In a bullpen game for both teams, power was the least visible element most of the way. Through 10 innings, the Twins employed five pitchers, the Rangers brought out four, and they combined to hold opponents to a run each on six Twins hits and eight for Texas.
The only runs scored on a Byron Buxton triple in the second and a Danny Santana base hit in the fourth.
Odor broke things up in the 11th. Adalberto Mejia, Minnesota’s sixth pitcher, had opened the inning by retiring Nomar Mazara, but issued bases on balls to Joey Gallo and Asdrubal Cabrera. It was the perfect setup for Odor. Looking for a center-cut first-pitch fastball, he got it and drilled a three-run bomb into the left-center field seats at Target Field.
With two on and just one out, the odds already favored Texas by 58 percent. Odor’s home run shifted them to 96 percent and proved to be a game-winner when Shawn Kelley retired the Twins without incident.