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Twins-Rangers Preview

Aug 18, 2009 - 5:54 AM By DAN PIERINGER STATS Writer

Minnesota (56-61) at Texas (66-50), 8:05 p.m. EDT

The Texas Rangers continue to show they're legitimate contenders for a spot in the AL playoffs. The Minnesota Twins are looking more like a team that'll have to wait until next year.

The Rangers look to add to their lead in the wild-card race with their fourth straight win Tuesday night when they host the Twins, who could have a hard time snapping their three-game losing streak if Justin Morneau can't play.

Texas (67-50) has won three straight and five of six to improve to 19-11 since the All-Star break. It is one game ahead of Boston in the wild-card race and 4 1/2 behind Los Angeles in the AL West.

Minnesota (56-62) appears to be headed in the opposite direction. The Twins have gone 11-18 in the second half to fall 6 1/2 games behind Detroit in the AL Central lead and 11 1/2 behind the Rangers for the wild-card berth.

The trends for both clubs continued as Texas took an 8-5 victory in the opener of the four-game series Monday night. Marlon Byrd had two hits and three RBIs, and Josh Hamilton had two hits and scored two runs.

"We're trying to take the approach of keeping the intensity like Boston is here every day or the Angels are here every day," said Hamilton, batting .536 (15 for 28) with five doubles, seven RBIs and five runs scored over his last seven games.

The Rangers, who haven't been to the postseason since 1999, are 17 games over .500 for the first time since Sept. 26, 2004. They were in contention until the final week of the 2004 season, the last time the club made a serious playoff push.

"We're in territory we've never been before," third-year manager Ron Washington said. "We're learning and showing a lot of character."

The Twins are in a much less favorable position, and the loss of Morneau on Monday didn't help their cause. The three-time All-Star and 2006 MVP left the game in the fourth inning because of dizziness associated with an inner ear infection. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said Morneau would be listed as day-to-day.

The Twins would likely miss the AL leader with 94 RBIs as they face Rangers starter Scott Feldman (12-4, 3.90 ERA), who's near the top of the league in wins.

Feldman, a right-hander, is 7-2 over his last nine starts, including a 4-1 victory at Cleveland on Thursday in which he gave up one run over six innings.

Feldman is 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA in two career starts against the Twins. He gave up three runs in six innings to suffer a 4-1 loss to them July 18.

The Twins will counter with Carl Pavano (10-9, 5.16), who's 1-1 with a 3.21 ERA in two starts since Minnesota acquired him from Cleveland on Aug. 7. After throwing seven shutout innings to win his Twins debut at Detroit, he gave up five runs in seven innings of a 5-4 home loss to Kansas City on Thursday.

Pavano lost his first career start against the Rangers on April 9, while with the Indians. He gave up a career high-tying nine runs and recorded only three outs in the second-shortest start of his career.

Byrd is 9 for 21 (.429) with one home run and one double in his career against Pavano.