ARLINGTON -- For different reasons, Luis Arraez and Marwin Gonzalez figure to play critical roles down the stretch as the Twins look to fend off the Indians for control of the American League Central.

They continued to show that value with a combined seven hits and five RBIs on Thursday night as the Twins unloaded the tension of a dramatic two-game series in Milwaukee by scoring 10 runs in the first four frames against the Rangers in a 13-6 rout at Globe Life Park.

Minnesota maintained its half-game division lead over Cleveland, which cruised to a 19-5 win over the Yankees.

• Box score

“We started out pretty good the first couple of innings and just carried it out,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “There were good swings throughout the game all the way up and down the lineup. There were even some well-hit balls that ended up not scoring any runs and weren’t hits, but I thought we drove the ball well. I thought we impacted the ball well.”

The postseason experience and big-game ability of Gonzalez always figured to be important late in the season for the Twins, and it already flared up earlier on this road trip in a clutch three-run homer off Brewers reliever Josh Hader. Gonzalez stayed hot with a four-hit game against the Rangers, including a double as part of a five-run second inning and an RBI single in the four-run fourth.

Gonzalez collected four hits for the fifth time in his career and the second time this season, following a four-hit game against the Tigers on June 7 at Comerica Park. He notched multiple hits for the fourth time in his last five games, a stretch during which he is 10-for-20 with two homers, two doubles and seven RBIs.

“He’s found the barrel a lot lately, but he’s also battled in some at-bats and found a way to put the ball in play,” Baldelli said. “He’s used the whole field. He’s looked really good. I think he’s feeling really good at the plate. I know it looks good from where we are.”

In fact, Gonzalez actually hadn’t been feeling as good until quite recently, after he made an effort to stop swinging so hard in those meaningful situations and focus on staying more under control.

He said he actually came to the realization in the middle of an at-bat several weeks ago and Gonzalez has been working hard to get to the point where he’s at now, though, as he pointed out with a chuckle, that’s not to say he’s going to keep up this .500 clip for the rest of the season.

“The 100 times that you go look for a homer, you're probably going to hit just one,” Gonzalez said. “I haven't hit a homer this season that I've been looking for, so when you're under control, you're going to barrel the ball. Sometimes, it's going to go out without you even trying. When you try, bad things come."

Unlike with Gonzalez, very few entering the season could have expected how valuable Arraez should prove to be in the Twins’ postseason push, but the 22-year-old rookie continued to show why he has seized a full-time role in a crowded infield situation with a rare homer as part of a three-hit, three-RBI game in which he fell a triple shy of the cycle.

“Even comparing him with veteran players, good hitters, I think his general approach is as good as anybody in the league,” Baldelli said. “He's a good contact bat. He has good hand-eye coordination. He finds the barrel often.”

Arraez got the plentiful scoring started by drilling a letter-high fastball into the right-field stands for his third long ball of the season and his first since July 5, also against the Rangers. The three bombs matched his career high at any level in the Minors, where he hit only six in 367 games.

He added a double the following inning and an eighth-inning RBI single for a career-high three RBIs. It was his sixth multi-hit game in 12 starts this month and his first career game with multiple extra-base hits.

"I think everybody in this clubhouse loves to hit behind him,” Gonzalez said. “He's always on base. He's an unbelievable guy and he's been unbelievable since he got here, so we all hope he keeps doing that. We have the confidence that he will. He's been the key for us."