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Twins eye series win in Arlington

Jul 28, 2011 - 2:59 PM (Sports Network) - Perhaps Monday's rout at the hands of the Rangers was the wake-up call the Twins needed.

Looking to win three straight for the first time since the beginning of the month, Minnesota goes for a series victory over American League West-leading Texas tonight in the finale of a four-game set in Arlington.

The Twins have scored 16 runs in winning consecutive games since getting routed, 20-6, in Monday's opener. They used some power to roll to a 7-2 victory last night, getting homers from Joe Mauer -- his first of the season -- and Michael Cuddyer.

Jason Kubel added a three-run double and Brian Duensing gave up a single run over 6 2/3 innings for the Twins, who had lost four of five before their consecutive wins and will try to record three victories in a row for the first time since July 3-5.

"It makes it a lot easier when we put up runs like that," Duensing said. "We got some big hits when we needed it."

Though still six games under .500 (49-55), Minnesota is just six games behind first-place Detroit in the AL Central. However, the club did see second baseman Alexi Casilla exit Wednesday's win in the ninth inning due to tightness in his right hamstring following his second double of the night.

Perhaps the Twins putting themselves in position to win this series despite Monday's debacle isn't too surprising given that they have now won five of seven over the Rangers this year and are 12-5 in this series since the start of last season.

For the Rangers, they got RBI from Michael Young and Yorvit Torrealba in last night's loss, their fifth in eight games since a 12-game win streak. Texas also saw its edge over the Los Angeles Angels slip to just two games for the division lead after Ervin Santana threw a no-hitter in his club's win over Cleveland.

Colby Lewis gave up four runs on eight hits while striking out five and walking two to take the loss.

The Rangers try to earn a split of this series behind Matt Harrison, who is 2-0 over his past four starts.

The left-hander allowed just three runs over the first three outings of his unbeaten span before yielding four on eight hits over 6 2/3 innings versus the Blue Jays on Saturday. Harrison struck out eight and did not get a decision in his team's 5-4 victory.

Harrison, 25, is 8-7 with a 3.05 earned run average on the season and is searching for his first career win against the Twins. He is 0-2 with a save and 6.46 ERA in six games versus them, including two starts, and took a tough- luck loss to the franchise on June 12 despite giving up just one earned run over six innings.

Scott Baker, meanwhile, will try to provide a similar lift tonight for the Twins to the one he gave in his return from the disabled list last Saturday.

Pitching for the first time since July 5 because of elbow soreness, Baker held the Tigers scoreless over five innings, allowing three hits and a walk while striking out five in a 4-1 win. He was limited to 82 pitches in his return, but won his third straight and for the sixth time in seven starts, taking advantage of a jumpy Detroit club.

"We probably got a little over aggressive with Baker," said Tigers manager Jim Leyland. "He's very good at getting you out on some high fastballs. I thought we probably were in a situation where we had a couple chances, but we were probably over aggressive."

The 29-year-old righty is 8-5 on the season and lowered his ERA to 2.88. Of his 18 starts this year, one came against the Rangers on June 11 and Baker claimed a victory for giving up just one run on five hits with seven strikeouts in a complete-game effort. That moved him to 4-2 with a 4.41 ERA lifetime versus Texas.