Minnesota @ Texas preview
Choctaw Stadium
Last Meeting ( Aug 24, 2010 ) Minnesota 3, Texas 4
In his first year in the starting rotation, Texas Rangers left-hander C.J. Wilson has become one of the most dependable starters in the American League.
Wilson is currently on a five-game winning streak and will try to make it six in a row against the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night. The Twins will counter with left-hander Brian Duensing, who is 4-0 since moving to the rotation.
Texas has won three straight games, including the first two of this four-game series against Minnesota. The Twins, meanwhile, have lost two consecutive games for the third time since the All-Star break.
Regardless, the Twins will be more worried about Wilson. After all, Wilson has gone 5-0 with a 2.20 ERA over his last seven outings. In his last start against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday, Wilson threw 8 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing only three hits with one walk and a career-high 12 strikeouts.
Wilson is 0-2 with a 3.41 ERA in 18 games - one start – lifetime against the Twins. When he faced Minnesota on May 29 this season, Wilson took the loss, allowing five runs on four hits with two walks and three strikeouts over six innings.
The Rangers are coming off a 4-3 victory on Tuesday. They finished the game 3-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left five runners on base.
Josh Hamilton belted his 29th home run of the season, launching a solo homer in the fourth inning. Andres Blanco had two doubles and Elvis Andrus extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a single in the third inning. Michael Young came through with what proved to be the game-winning hit, a two-out RBI single in the seventh inning.
The Twins will look to Duensing to hold the Rangers’ bats in check.
Since joining the rotation on July 23, Duensing has gone 4-0 with a 2.18 ERA in six starts. In his last start against the Los Angeles Angels on Friday, Duensing went eight innings, allowing one run on seven hits with no walks and six strikeouts.
Lifetime against the Rangers, Duensing is 1-1 with a 1.74 ERA in four games, including one start.
Offensively, the Twins had a mediocre outing Tuesday. They went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position, and left six men on base. On the bright side, Orlando Hudson had two hits and Michael Cuddyer had two RBIs.