ARLINGTON, Texas (Interstat) — Joe Ryan pitched six strong innings and the Minnesota Twins broke open the game with a four-run first inning, cruising to a 9-3 victory over the Texas Rangers on Thursday afternoon at Globe Life Park.

The win gave Minnesota a three-game sweep of the Rangers, following victories of 12-2 on Tuesday and 4-2 on Monday. The Twins improved to 36-40, while Texas fell to 35-39.

Ryan, who earned his fifth win against three losses, allowed two runs on five hits over six innings. He struck out six and walked two. Jack Leiter took the loss for Texas, dropping to 3-7 after giving up six runs on eight hits in four innings.

The Twins seized control immediately in the top of the first inning. Trevor Larnach led off with a sharp line-drive single to center field. After Byron Buxton struck out, Kody Clemens singled to center, moving Larnach to third. Royce Lewis then struck out, but Josh Bell followed with a ground-ball single to right field, scoring Larnach and sending Clemens to third. Brooks Lee then launched a three-run homer to right field, his 12th of the season, clearing the bases and giving Minnesota a 4-0 lead. Victor Caratini added a single before Tristan Gray struck out to end the inning.

Texas could not respond against Ryan in the bottom of the first. Joc Pederson struck out looking, Josh Jung grounded out and Wyatt Langford struck out swinging.

The Twins added two more runs in the fourth inning. After Caratini popped out and Gray grounded out, Luke Keaschall walked. Larnach then hit his fifth home run of the season, a two-run shot to center field, extending the lead to 6-0.

Texas finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth. Langford led off with a solo home run to left, his fourth of the year. After Brandon Nimmo flied out, Ezequiel Duran hit a solo homer to left, cutting the deficit to 6-2. Josh Smith struck out and Jake Burger struck out looking to end the inning.

Minnesota answered in the top of the eighth. Caratini led off with a single to left. Ryan Kreidler, who entered as a pinch hitter in the sixth, then hit a two-run homer to right-center field, his fourth of the season, pushing the lead to 8-2. Keaschall followed with a single, but Larnach lined out, Buxton grounded into a force out and Clemens struck out.

Texas mounted a small rally in the bottom of the ninth. Justin Foscue led off with a solo homer to center, his fourth. Josh Jung singled, and Langford singled to put runners on first and second. But Brandon Nimmo grounded out to end the game at 9-3.

The Twins collected 13 hits, with Caratini leading the way with a 3-for-4 performance. Bell went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Kreidler finished 1-for-2 with the home run and two RBIs. Lee was 1-for-5 with the three-run homer and three RBIs. Keaschall walked twice and singled once.

Texas had 11 hits, including home runs from Langford, Duran and Foscue. Josh Smith doubled, and Jung had two singles.

Cody Laweryson tossed a scoreless eighth inning for Minnesota, allowing three hits and one earned run. Justin Lawrence gave up two runs on two hits in the seventh, striking out two. Taylor Rogers recorded one out in the ninth, allowing a hit but no runs.

The game lasted 2 hours, 59 minutes in front of an announced crowd of 30,606.

The Twins will travel to Arizona for a three-game series against the Diamondbacks starting Friday. The Rangers will host the San Diego Padres for a three-game set beginning Friday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Texas Rangers 5, Minnesota Twins 4. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Texas with a 58.50 percent probability to win. Minnesota had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 12 went under the over/under line of 7.5.