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Twins-Rangers Preview

Aug 25, 2010 - 4:53 AM By MIKE LIPKA STATS Writer

Minnesota (72-53) at Texas (70-54), 8:05 p.m. EDT

It's difficult to imagine a left-hander making a more impressive transition from the bullpen to the rotation than the one C.J. Wilson has made for the Texas Rangers this year.

Minnesota's Brian Duensing, however, is certainly trying.

Each red-hot southpaw will be looking to win his sixth consecutive decision Wednesday night as the Twins try to avoid a third straight loss to begin this four-game set in Arlington.

Wilson (12-5, 3.02 ERA) was the Rangers' closer for much of the last three seasons, but he's quickly become the anchor of their much-improved rotation. The 4.15 ERA posted by Texas starters is the team's lowest since 1992, with Wilson leading the way in wins and ERA.

He's 5-0 in seven starts since the All-Star break, including a brilliant outing Friday at Baltimore. Wilson came within one out of a complete game, striking out a career-high 12 and allowing three hits in a 2-0 win.

"It's not about the strikeouts, it's more about keeping them contained," Wilson said. "If every single dude hits a groundball to the shortstop, we're probably going to get them all out, so it doesn't really matter."

Duensing (7-1, 1.92) hasn't needed a lot of strikeouts to be effective. He's 5-0 with a 2.18 ERA in seven outings - six starts - since the All-Star break, a big reason the Twins are a major league-best 26-12 in that stretch.

After beginning the season with 39 relief appearances, Duensing moved to the rotation to help replace the struggling Nick Blackburn and the injured Kevin Slowey.

"It's always nice to be able to fill from within your organization and not have to give up a lot of prospects to go get someone," Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said. "When you have a guy like Duensing, we know he's out in the bullpen and does a good job out there ... but we also know he's someone we can go to if something happens, and that's very important."

Duensing has been especially tough lately, allowing one run over 17 innings in his last two starts. He was also sharp in his only career start against the Rangers, giving up one run and three hits in seven innings of a 3-2 victory last Aug. 28.

The Twins (72-54) hope he can replicate that effort as they try to avoid their first three-game losing streak since before the All-Star break. They barely avoided a no-hitter in the ninth inning of Monday's 4-0 defeat, and Tuesday's 4-3 loss helped shrink their AL Central lead to 3 1/2 games over Chicago.

The Rangers (71-54) remain 8 1/2 games clear of Oakland in the West, and have a chance to win four in a row for the first time since an 11-game winning streak June 12-24.

With a home run in Tuesday's victory, Josh Hamilton continues to headline Texas' offense, especially with Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz on the disabled list. Hamilton is 9 for 21 with three homers and nine RBIs in his last five games, raising his MLB-leading batting average to .356.

Hamilton, however, is batting .255 against left-handed pitching, a problem that could also slow down Twins star Joe Mauer on Wednesday. The reigning AL MVP is hitting .329 overall but .245 against lefties.

The road team has yet to win a game in this season series. Texas was swept at Target Field from May 28-30.