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Perkins wins first as Twins batter Rangers

May 21, 2008 - 4:22 AM By Anthony Maggio PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Former first-round draft pick Glen Perkins was not pleased when he was sent to Class AAA Rochester after spring training. But he heeded the team's advice and it paid off for him on Tuesday.

The lefthander threw 6 1/3 strong innings and was buoyed by a seven-run third-inning outburst from his teammates as the Minnesota Twins topped the Texas Rangers, 11-4, at the Metrodome.

Perkins (1-1) allowed three runs - two earned - on six hits with no walks and three strikeouts en route to his first major league victory - the second straight night a Twins pitcher accomplished the feat.

Bobby Korecky won his first big league game against Texas on Monday.

"I think they had a plan - they laid it out for me when I was there and I didn't really believe them. I didn't want to believe them," Perkins said of the Twins hierarchy. "I knew that I could pitch here and knew that I would pitch here again. It's just a matter of being that guy when they needed somebody.

"The only way to do that was to pitch well. I wasn't going to get back here if I didn't pitch well and I knew that."

The Twins wanted Perkins to stretch out his arm in the minors before returning to the parent club as a starter.

Perkins, who had pitched strictly in relief in parts of the previous two seasons, apparently learned to trust his changeup, which was his most effective pitch and kept the Texas hitters off-balance.

"He's locating the ball a lot better, his changeup that's the best changeup we've seen him have here," Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We've always seen the deception and now you're seeing the breaking ball and changeup along with it. It's development. He's getting there. He's throwing the ball very well for us and that's huge."

While Perkins was cruising, Texas righthander Doug Mathis was having an evening to forget.

Making his first major league start, Mathis (1-1) got little help from his defense and threw just 38 of his 70 pitches for strikes before being sent to the showers after just 2 1/3 innings.

Mathis, who was also making his first major league appearance on the road, allowed nine runs - six earned - on eight hits with four walks.

His first pitch of the game turned into a triple by Carlos Gomez, and things didn't get any better from there.

"He was nervous," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "You could see it after that first triple."

Alexi Casilla followed with an RBI single and Joe Mauer doubled to put runners on second and third with no outs. Casilla was thrown out at home on Michael Cuddyer's fielder's choice, but Jarrod Saltalamacchia threw wildly to third trying to throw out Mauer, allowing him to score on the error.

After getting out of the second inning unscathed, things quickly unraveled in the third for the Rangers.

Casilla, Mauer and Justin Morneau all singled to start the inning - with Morneau's hit plating Casilla - and Cuddyer snapped an 0-for-10 slump with an RBI double to push the lead to 4-0.

"The few pitches he made that were good pitches, they hit them," Washington said. "Especially that one Cuddyer hit. I don't know how he hit that."

Jason Kubel then walked to load the bases and Delmon Young followed with a tailor-made double-play grounder to Ian Kinsler. But the Rangers' second baseman couldn't field the ball cleanly, allowing another run to score and everyone to reach safely.

Mike Lamb drilled an RBI single and Adam Everett hit an RBI fielder's choice that forced Lamb out at second for the first out of the frame. But Mathis followed with a five-pitch walk to Carlos Gomez and got the hook from Washington.

Franklyn German came on and walked Casilla to force in another run before Mauer's sacrifice fly and Morneau's flyout ended the inning. The seven runs scored were a season high in one inning for the Twins.

"The one error out there, we took advantage of that," Gardenhire said. "Got us a nice lead and kind of a relaxing evening after a long night (12 innings) last night that was back and forth."

Perkins made sure the evening would remain stress-free, scattering three hits among the first 12 batters he faced and then setting down nine in a row before he hit Milton Bradley with a pitch to lead off the seventh inning.

An error by Casilla on David Murphy's one-hopper that should have started a double play opened the floodgates, as Perkins then gave up singles to three of the next four batters, with German Duran's first-pitch single ending Perkins' night.

Kinsler hit an RBI single off Brian Bass to add to Perkins' run total, but he still went a career-best 6 1/3 innings.

Minnesota tacked on two more in the bottom half of the seventh on Young's RBI triple and Lamb's sacrifice fly. Lamb was the only Twins starter who didn't score at least one run, but he joined Young and Casilla with two RBI.

Josh Hamilton drove in a run in the top of the ninth inning, but the Rangers still lost their third straight game - their longest losing streak since dropping seven in a row from April 18 through April 24.

Losers of two in a four-game series against the Twins, Texas failed in its bid to win eight consecutive series, which would have tied the club record.