Arlington, Texas ? The Texas Rangers got a look at their past as well as their future.

Veteran slugger Juan Gonzalez homered twice, including a three-run shot in the first inning, and rookies Mark Teixeira and Laynce Nix made key plays as the Rangers beat the stumbling Minnesota Twins, 9-4, to complete a three-game sweep Thursday night.

Michael Young added a three-run homer and Teixeira also connected for Texas, which hit four home runs. The Rangers have won four in a row, six of seven and 11 of 16.

“That’s Rangers baseball, four homers,” Teixeira said. “(Gonzalez) is on a tear. He can carry a team when he’s swinging the bat like he is.”

The Twins have lost five straight and 12 of 17.

Texas starter John Thomson (6-9) allowed two runs and eight hits over seven innings. He struck out four and walked two.

Gonzalez hit a solo homer in the fourth, his 23rd.

Late last month the Rangers tried to send Gonzalez to Montreal, but he exercised the no-trade clause in his contract. The Rangers are still attempting to deal Gonzalez to open up playing time for their young outfielders, and he’s making himself attractive to contenders with five homers in his last six games.

Gonzalez refused interview requests following his 47th career multihomer game, and fourth this season. He has 428 homers, moving past Billy Williams for 31st place on the career list.

Texas' Juan Gonzalez connects for a three-run home run. Gonzalez homered twice in the Rangers' 9-4 victory over Minnesota Thursday night in Arlington, Texas.

The Twins saw enough of Gonzalez during the series.

“Juan’s swinging as good as we’ve seen him,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “He’s not missing anything.”

Teixeira went 2-for-4 and made several outstanding defensive plays at first base. Nix singled and scored in his major league debut and played strong defense in center field.

“I like having the young guys in the lineup,” Young said. “They’re contributing to us winning games. We got a total team effort.”

Minnesota starter Rick Reed (4-9) allowed three homers, seven runs and eight hits over 4 1/3 innings.

The Rangers greeted Reed with first-inning singles by Young and Hank Blalock. Two outs later, Gonzalez hit the first pitch from Reed into the left-field seats to give the Rangers a 3-0 lead.

Gardenhire was upset about a potential double play that didn’t get turned in the first by shortstop Cristian Guzman. Alex Rodriguez beat Guzman’s throw to first, and Gonzalez later took advantage with his two-out, three-run homer.

Gardenhire said he’ll bench Guzman and start either Denny Hocking or Chris Gomez at shortstop in the three-game series at Anaheim that begins tonight.

“We expect him to be ready to play and he wasn’t so we’re going to sit him down,” Gardenhire said.

Tigers 1, White Sox 0

Detroit — Nate Cornejo finished three outs away from his first career shutout, leading Detroit to its first home sweep in a year with a victory over Chicago. Cornejo allowed seven hits before leaving after issuing a leadoff walk in the ninth to Frank Thomas. Jamie Walker retired Carl Everett and Chris Mears got the final two outs for his third save to finish the Tigers’ third shutout of the season.

Detroit wrapped up its second sweep of the season, also winning three games in Baltimore May 5-7. The Tigers’ last sweep at home came July 23-25, 2002, against Kansas City.

The Tigers swept the White Sox at home in a series of at least three games for the first time since 1988.

Cornejo (4-7) walked two and struck out two to win for the first time in 11 starts.

Orioles 4, Mariners 1

Seattle — Sidney Ponson pitched his fourth complete game of the season, and Luis Matos and David Segui homered as Baltimore beat Seattle. Ponson threw a seven-hitter, winning for the 11th time in 14 starts, and the Orioles won a series at Safeco Field for the first time. They are 3-16 since the Seattle ballpark opened in mid-1999.

Ponson (12-5) ranks third in the American League, throwing all of Baltimore’s complete games this season. He struck out six and walked one.

Red Sox 7, Blue Jays 1

Toronto — David Ortiz and Kevin Millar hit back-to-back homers as Boston completed a three-game sweep of Toronto. Ramiro Mendoza won his second straight start and Bill Mueller went 4-for-4 for the Red Sox, who lead the majors in batting average, runs, hits, slugging percentage and on-base percentage.

The fading Blue Jays led the majors in those categories last month, but they’ve lost 10 of 12, including the first three of 12 straight games against the Red Sox and Yankees — the two teams ahead of them in the AL East.

Indians 3, Yankees 2 (10)

Cleveland — Rookie Jody Gerut’s RBI single scored Coco Crisp in the 10th inning, giving Cleveland a win over New York. Gerut grounded an 0-1 pitch from Sterling Hitchcock (0-2) through New York’s drawn-in infield as the Indians won two of three and took their first home season series from the Yankees since Jacobs Field opened in 1994.

Athletics 5, Devil Rays 2

Oakland, Calif. — Mark Mulder pitched a five-hitter for his AL-leading seventh complete game and Oakland defeated Tampa Bay. Mulder (12-6) tied Toronto’s Roy Halladay and Atlanta’s Russ Ortiz for the most wins in the majors. Mulder improved to 6-0 in six career starts against the Devil Rays.