Final
Twins-Rangers Preview
Aug 25, 2010 - 4:53 AM By MIKE LIPKA STATS WriterMinnesota (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.
- Rangers 4, Twins 3 - FINAL
MINNESOTA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
D Span cf 5 0 2 1 0 2 0 .266
O Hudson 2b 3 0 0 0 2 0 1 .284
J Mauer c 4 0 1 1 0 2 2 .329
M Cuddyer 1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 4 .272
D Young lf 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 .308
J Kubel dh 4 1 2 0 0 1 0 .260
D Valenci
Aug 25 11:13 PM - AL
AT TEXAS - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY VLADIMIR GUERRERO (23) TO LEFT CENTER WITH
0 OUT IN THE 6TH OFF BRIAN DUENSING.
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 3, TEXAS 4
DUE UP FOR TEXAS: B MOLINA (.211, 0-FOR-2)
Twins 3, Rangers 4 Bot 6, 0 OutsAug 25 10:12 PM - AL
AT TEXAS - SCORING UPDATE
GROUND OUT BY JOE MAUER SCORED J.J. HARDY
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, O HUDSON ON SECOND, D SPAN ON THIRD, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 3
TEXAS 3 TOP,5TH
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: M CUDDYER (.273, 0-FOR-2)
Twins 3, Rangers 3 Top 5, 0 OutsAug 25 9:48 PM - AL
AT TEXAS - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY DENARD SPAN SCORED DANNY VALENCIA
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, D SPAN ON SECOND, J HARDY ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 2
TEXAS 3 TOP,5TH
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: O HUDSON (.286, 0-FOR-1, BB)
Twins 2, Rangers 3 Top 5, 0 OutsAug 25 9:42 PM - AL
AT TEXAS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY VLADIMIR GUERRERO SCORED MICHAEL YOUNG
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, V GUERRERO ON FIRST, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 1
TEXAS 3 BOTTOM,3RD
DUE UP FOR TEXAS: B MOLINA (.213, 0-FOR-1)
Twins 1, Rangers 3 Bot 3, 0 OutsAug 25 9:12 PM - AL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
MINNESOTA 0 1 1 2 0
TEXAS 2 0 2 2 1 (TOP 3)
CURRENT PITCHERS: MIN - BRIAN DUENSING
TEX - C.J. WILSON
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: J HARDY (.260, 5 HR, 26 RBI)
D SPAN (.267, 1-FOR-1)
O HUDSON (.286, 0-FOR-1)
Twins 1, Rangers 2 Top 3, 0 OutsAug 25 8:49 PM - AL
AT TEXAS - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY JOSH HAMILTON (30) TO CENTER WITH 1 OUT
IN THE 1ST OFF BRIAN DUENSING SCORED MICHAEL YOUNG.
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 0, TEXAS 2
DUE UP FOR TEXAS: V GUERRERO (.296, 22 HR, 91 RBI)
Twins 0, Rangers 2 Bot 1, 0 OutsAug 25 8:28 PM
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