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Hamilton, Rangers take aim at Hernandez, Twins

Jul 19, 2008 - 10:14 AM Texas (50-47) at Minnesota (54-42) 7:10 p.m. EDT

MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Josh Hamilton and the Texas Rangers will try to bounce back from a rare shutout Saturday when they face the Minnesota Twins.

Hamilton became the star of the All-Star week festivities on Monday night with his barrage of 35 blasts in the Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium, many traveling over 500 feet. Hamilton won over the crowd and awed his peers with the display.

But major league pitching is different than batting practice and the Hamilton and the Rangers were greeted back from the break Friday by lefthander Glen Perkins, who tossed six innings to lead the Twins to a 6-0 win .

Hamilton finished 0-for-4 and fellow All-Star Ian Kinsler had his 25-game hitting streak snapped with his own 0-for-4 performance.

It was the first time this season that Texas, which leads the majors with a .282 team batting average, had been shutout.

Livan Hernandez (9-6, 5.44) will try to keep the Rangers bats quite for another day. The burly righthander leads the majors in hits allowed and has not pitched since allowing six runs and 11 hits in 4 2/3 innings to absorb a loss against Boston on July 9.

Texas will counter with rookie lefthander Matt Harrison (1-0, 6.52), who will be making his third major league start. The 22-year-old was knocked around in his last start, allowing five runs and seven hits in 2 2/3 innings against the White Sox on Sunday, though he did not factor in the decision.