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Rangers-Twins Preview

Sep 5, 2010 - 1:18 AM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

Texas (75-59) at Minnesota (78-57), 2:10 p.m. EDT

Texas' C.J. Wilson believes his remarkable second-half surge has been the result of becoming more familiar with opposing hitters as the season progresses.

The AL West-leading Rangers hope this trend continues, as they're in need of a win after suffering another disappointing loss to the Minnesota Twins.

Wilson, who defeated the first-place Twins last week, looks to win his eighth straight decision when he takes the ball in Sunday's finale at Target Field.

After blowing a one-run seventh-inning lead to lose Friday's opener, Texas (75-60) fell behind 9-0 after four innings in losing 12-4 Saturday. Jim Thome homered twice for Minnesota, giving him 584 to move him past Mark McGwire for ninth place on baseball's all-time list.

The Twins (79-57), who dropped three of four in Texas last week, improved to 5-0 at Target Field against the Rangers and have won 15 of the last 18 at their new ballpark.

"We went to Texas last week, and they played very well against us," Thome said. "We're trying to ride this thing out. We got a month to go, and we're trying to stay focused."

While Minnesota is in a tight divisional race with Chicago, Texas has a seemingly comfortable eight-game lead in the West. Still, with every defeat the Rangers fall further behind the Twins and AL East-leading New York for hosting a division series.

Texas, which has dropped 10 of 14 on the road, hopes Wilson (14-5, 2.88 ERA) can help the club get back on track.

Wilson is 7-0 with a 1.99 ERA in nine starts since the All-Star break with the Rangers winning each time. The left-hander, who has posted a 0.90 ERA in winning his last four starts, is coming off a brilliant outing in Kansas City on Monday, when he allowed two hits in 7 2-3 innings of a 3-0 victory.

Wilson credits his second-half run to the familiarity he has gained in facing hitters throughout the year.

"Game experience against the same teams gives me the advantage," the converted reliever said. "Every team I'm facing now, I've faced before at some point in the season. I've had the chance to prepare even more."

Wilson faced the Twins on Aug. 25, and allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings of a 4-3 victory. That was an improvement from his first start against Minnesota on May 29, when he gave up five runs in six innings of an 8-3 loss.

Wilson has been terrific at shutting down Minnesota's top hitters, limiting Joe Mauer and Michael Cuddyer to two hits in 30 combined at-bats.

Mauer was given the day off Saturday, but is expected to catch Nick Blackburn (8-9, 6.04) in the finale.

Blackburn was originally scheduled to start the series opener, but was forced to pitch Thursday when that game went to extra innings. The right-hander pitched the 13th, and took the loss in a 10-9 defeat to Detroit when he allowed Gerald Laird's solo homer.

This will be Blackburn's third start since returning to the majors after a month stint in the minors.

In his first start after being called up, Blackburn allowed three runs and eight hits in seven innings of a 4-0 loss to Texas on Aug. 23. He followed that with one of the best outings of his career, yielding two hits in 8 2-3 innings of a 1-0 win over Seattle last Saturday.

Blackburn won't have to worry about facing major league batting leader Josh Hamilton, who bruised his ribs making a running catch Saturday and is expected to miss the finale.