ARLINGTON -- The Twins won the first three games of the weekend series against the Rangers in comeback fashion, but they couldn¡¯t pull it off a fourth time in a 6-5 loss in 10 innings on Sunday afternoon at Globe Life Field.

The Twins saw a four-run lead erased in the seventh inning, but appeared to be on the verge of another come-from-behind victory when Carlos Santana belted a game-tying solo home run in the ninth. But the Twins couldn¡¯t push the automatic runner across in the 10th while the Rangers did.

¡°You have the lead right where you want it,¡± Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. ¡°Our bullpen has really done their job very well recently, so yeah, it¡¯s disappointing. But you're going to run into some games like that. It was just a matter of a handful of pitches and the game completely turned upside down.¡±

Signs pointed toward a Twins sweep much of the day. They jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, highlighted by a two-run home run by Ryan Jeffers, and extended it to 4-0 with an RBI single by Jeffers in the third.

Starter Pablo López, meanwhile, worked out of trouble often and worked through six scoreless innings.

With a lead and a bullpen that had been lights-out all series going into the seventh, what could go wrong? Well, the Twins¡¯ bullpen finally stumbled.

Reliever Jorge Alcala allowed a season-high five runs in the seventh. The Rangers¡¯ first three batters of the inning reached on hits, including consecutive RBI doubles by All-Stars Marcus Semien and Corey Seager. After getting Josh Smith to fly out, Alcala gave up a game-tying two-run homer to Adolis Garc¨ªa. Then, after striking out Nathaniel Lowe for the second out, Alcala surrendered the lead on a solo shot by Josh Jung.

It was an uncharacteristic outing by Alcala, who entered with a 0.45 ERA in 19 road games this season. He had also posted a 1.80 ERA since being recalled on May 24.

¡°I think some of his pitches were probably just more hittable versions of his pitches location-wise,¡± Baldelli said. ¡°I talked to [pitching coach Pete Maki] about it, Pete said it wouldn¡¯t really change that much. That¡¯s how he throws the ball in most of his outings. Most of the time the other team is not hitting the ball on the barrel.¡±

Baldelli added that he likely would have turned to reliever Griffin Jax earlier if Alcala was in a situation with runners on base. But, ¡°you have to think that a guy with a track record as good as Alcala is fine to continue pitching with two outs and nobody on base.¡±

Despite giving up the lead, the Twins didn¡¯t go away quietly. Santana belted his game-tying solo shot to start the ninth off Rangers closer Kirby Yates, who hadn¡¯t blown a save all season.

In the 10th, the Twins had a chance. Automatic runner Edouard Julien advanced to third on a flyout by Willi Castro and then tried to score on a grounder by Jose Miranda, but Julien was thrown out at the plate by Seager.

¡°This is a really fast infield,¡± Baldelli said. ¡°Some of those balls that are hit really take off and they're in the infielder¡¯s glove before you know it. I think that probably helps them a little bit to make that play, but Seager made a good play on that ball.¡±

Baldelli challenged whether there was catcher¡¯s interference on the play, but it stood upon review.

¡°It¡¯s the end of the game. It¡¯s a run-scoring play,¡± Baldelli said. ¡°Why not see what the umpires actually think when they can slow it down?¡±

In the bottom half, the Rangers pushed their automatic runner, Garc¨ªa, across on an infield single by Jung. Jung hit a slow chopper toward third and Miranda¡¯s throw sailed wide of first, allowing Garc¨ªa to race home.

It was a disappointing end to what had been a terrific series for the Twins.

¡°It¡¯s a tough way to end this series, but we took three out of four against the defending World Series champs,¡± L¨®pez said. ¡°So, we have to be pretty proud of the way we played the series.¡±