ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- Kenny Rogers provided the perfect homecoming for the Texas Rangers.

Rogers allowed just five hits over eight-plus innings Tuesday as the Rangers, coming off their worst road trip in 14 years, beat the Minnesota Twins 5-2 Tuesday night.

"The key was to get into a rhythm and get outs consistently," Rogers said. "The first inning, I felt out of whack. There was a great breeze right in my face and the ball was moving so much. It took time to get adjusted."

Once Rogers (6-5) got adjusted and Minnesota got its first run in the second inning, he set the Twins down in order in five of the next six innings. He retired 13 in a row before walking Matt Lawton to start the ninth and then allowing a double to Butch Huskey.

Rogers, who had two no-decisions in games the Rangers lost during their 1-8 trip, struck out five and walked three and got 13 groundball outs. He has allowed just 18 hits over 27 1/3 innings in June.

"With Kenny Rogers out there, we have a lot of confidence," Rangers manager Johnny Oates said. "He got a lot of groundball outs and just missed some fastballs in the beginning before we made an adjustment. He then had a lot of success that got us through the eighth inning."

John Wetteland, who had gone three appearances since his last save June 5, came on with two on in the ninth and got his 17th save in 21 opportunities. Denny Hocking had an RBI groundout that scored Lawton.

Minnesota, starting a stretch of 13 road games in 13 days, lost for the eighth time in 10 games. The Twins had won five of the first six games this season against the Rangers, after losing all 12 in the series a year ago.

"We had a couple of shots at him early. We had a little misfortune when we couldn't get a hit when we needed it," Twins manager Tom Kelly said. "After the fourth or fifth, he started pitching like the Kenny Rogers we know."

In his last start, last Wednesday at Baltimore, Rogers allowed six earned runs in an 11-10 Texas loss. He had season highs with seven strikeouts and five walks.

Minnesota starter Mark Redman (4-3) lost his third straight start. He allowed four runs and 11 hits in four innings with four strikeouts and two walks.

Texas went ahead for good when Gabe Kapler's solo homer to right, his first since April 18, made it 2-1 in the second inning. He was 2-for-4.

Kapler has a six-game hitting streak and is 14-for-40 (.350) since coming off the disabled list June 9 after missing 33 games with a quadriceps injury. He has four homers this season, including in his first two Texas at-bats in the season opener.

Mike Lamb singled on the pitch right after Kapler's homer and later scored on Rusty Greer's RBI single to make it 3-1. Greer hit the second of three straight two-out singles that loaded the bases for the Rangers before Rafael Palmeiro struck out.

The Rangers left the bases loaded again in the third, without scoring a run, when Luis Alicea grounded out.

Alicea and Palmeiro did, however, combine for the first Rangers run. Alicea led off the first with a double and scored on Palmeiro's sacrifice fly.

Palmeiro also had an RBI single in the fourth inning, and Royce Clayton had and RBI single for the last run an inning later off reliever Mike Lincoln.

Minnesota got even at 1-1 in the second when David Ortiz led off with a double and Corey Koskie hit an RBI single.

Denny Hocking tried to make it 2-1 but was called out by umpire Bruce Froemming after trying to score on Chad Moeller's groundout to third. Though television replays showed Hocking's leg touching the plate before he was tagged high by catcher Ivan Rodriguez, there was no argument from the Minnesota bench about the rare 5-3-2 double play.

Game notes
Rogers walked leadoff hitter Jay Canizaro, then got out of the first inning with three straight fielder's choice grounders. ... Moeller, a catcher recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake City earlier in the day, made his major league debut, going 0-for-3. ... Twins LHP Eric Milton, scheduled to start the series finale Thursday, will skip that start after being hit on his throwing hand by a ball during batting practice Tuesday. ... Texas had lost 10 of its previous 11 games. ... The Rangers play 14 of their next 17 games before the All-Star break at home. ... Alicea was 2-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to seven games.