Gray 'just kind of unraveled' in 6-run 5th

ARLINGTON -- Sonny Gray’s start in the Twins’ 6-5 loss to the Rangers on Friday night wasn’t ideal. He knows it, he feels it, and he’s just trying to get his swagger back.

Gray wasn’t feeling it in the opener of a three-game set at Globe Life Field. He hasn’t felt “it” over his past couple starts. He tried to find the words to describe that “it” feeling: His swagger? His rhythm?

“It just kind of hasn't been there lately. So, I've got five days to, you know, to find it and get it back, and get back out there,” Gray said. “It's something that I need to find for sure.”

Gray (4-2) was solid up to a pivotal six-run fifth inning that led to his second loss of the season. He didn’t record a strikeout, but the right-hander logged three 1-2-3 innings to start the game. By the fourth inning, he had allowed just two baserunners and one hit.

Then came the fifth.

Two singles, a walk and a hit-by-pitch to open the frame set the stage for the Rangers to rally from a 3-0 deficit to tie the game. Gray departed with two outs, but he was responsible for two runners on base when reliever Caleb Thielbar yielded a go-ahead three-run homer to Rangers shortstop Corey Seager.

Gray’s final line was 4 2/3 innings, five runs, four hits and two walks.

“It's tough to have innings like that,” Gray said. “I just kind of unraveled a little bit there in the fifth and then they came up with a couple of big hits there in the back half. You give up five or six in an inning, it's going to be tough to come back from those.”

Because Gray’s pitch count was still low heading into the fifth inning, manager Rocco Baldelli wanted to give him the opportunity to work through it. But, it just kind of spiraled and the Twins couldn’t find a way out, Baldelli said.

And it took away from one of the best defensive showings by Minnesota this season.

“I would love to sit here and talk about our defense all night. And I wanted to win that game for a lot of reasons, one of the reasons was that. It was one of the better defensive games, especially the first half of the game, “Baldelli said.

“It was just pretty amazing to watch. One of the better defensive games I've seen in a long time. We don't get to enjoy it too much because of the way the game ended. But the guys played well out there.”

A bright spot in that defense was Byron Buxton, who made a dramatic catch at the left-center-field wall in the fourth inning while avoiding a collision with Nick Gordon.

That ball had a 15% catch probability, according to Statcast. It even impressed Rangers manager Chris Woodward.

"Wow. I got to watch it again,” Woodward said. “I was baffled, like there was no way that he caught that … How? That was my question. Seeing it in person, I don't even know how he came close to catching that, first of all. And if he doesn't catch that, it ricochets to the middle of the field and [Marcus] Semien is in for a homer.

“We've seen this guy before. I've seen the highlights of Byron Buxton. He's probably one of the best in the game at making catches like that. Just hats off."

Gray’s response? “Wow.”

“I didn't know it was a homer or [if] he caught it for the longest time,” Gray said. “I mean, it was an unbelievable play from an unbelievable player. He's incredible. All the way around.”

Even with a stellar defense behind Gray, it all came down to one inning and one big hit. He’s determined to find that winning attitude again, and he’ll have some time to do that before his next start.

“We'll find it. We'll have a good week and we'll go from there,” Gray said.