Twins Vs. Rangers Final Score: Texas Edges 4-3 Victory Over Minnesota After 13 Innings

A strong pitching performance by Cole De Vries was almost enough to send the Minnesota Twins into the All-Star break on a happy note with a victory.

De Vries went seven innings without giving up a run while giving up just three hits and a walk. The rookie was in line to pick up his third career major league victory thanks to an RBI single in the top of the sixth from Justin Morneau that scored Joe Mauer. Mauer finished with two of Minnesota's five hits.

Former Twins closer Joe Nathan surrendered a pair of runs in the top of the ninth. The first run scored on a bases loaded error by Nathan on a sacrifice bunt attempt from Brian Dozier. Denard Span also added a sacrifice fly RBI in the inning.

The 3-0 lead was not enough for Glen Perkins, who saw Ian Kinsler reach on an error and score. Adrian Beltre scored with two outs, followed by a double from Nelson Cruz. Michael Young brought both home to tie it at 3-3 and send the game to extra innings.

It took until the 13th inning for the game to finally be won as the Rangers nicked a run off of Al Burnett.

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Twins Vs. Rangers: Starting Lineups For Sunday's Game

The Minnesota Twins can pull off a momentum-building series victory over a tough Texas Rangers squad on Sunday, as the two teams will conclude their three-game set with an evening game in Arlington, Texas.

Sporting a rather impressive 19-23 record when playing away from Target Field this year, the Twins will give the ball to right-hander Cole De Vries in the finale to face Texas hurler Roy Oswalt. De Vries, who is currently replacing ineffective pitcher Liam Hendriks in Minnesota's rotation, most recently tossed two innings against Detroit on July 4 in a relief role, but should be at full health for Sunday's first pitch.

His 3.91 season ERA aside, the 27-year-old Eden Prairie native has not yet faced an offense quite as potent as the Rangers' in a full start, and will certainly have his work cut out against a lineup that includes one of the sport's scariest 3-through-6 hitters in Josh Hamilton, Adrian Beltre, Nelson Cruz and Michael Young. As such, De Vries will need to lean on an offense that will feature catcher Joe Mauer in the designated hitter position and Ryan Doumit behind he plate, which is a convenient luxury afforded to manager Ron Gardenhire.

Headed to the All-Star game for the fifth time in his career, the contact-hitting Mauer has been surprisingly dominant in games when he is working behind the plate, posting a .379 average (38 games). Though his .305 mark as a designated hitter (22 games) is hardly something to toss aside, it's interesting that allowing Mauer to play only on offense has actually hurt his production this season.

Here are Sunday evening's starting lineups:

Twins
1. Denard Span - CF
2. Ben Revere - RF
3. Joe Mauer - DH
4. Josh Willingham - LF
5. Justin Morneau - 1B
6. Ryan Doumit - C
7. Trevor Plouffe - 3B
8. Brian Dozier - SS
9. Jamey Carroll - 2B
Cole De Vries - SP

Rangers
1. Ian Kinsler - 2B
2. Elvis Andrus - SS
3. Josh Hamilton - DH
4. Adrian Beltre - 3B
5. Nelson Cruz - RF
6. Michael Young - 1B
7. David Murphy - LF
8. Mike Napoli - C
9. Craig Gentry - CF
Roy Oswalt - SP

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Twins Vs. Rangers: Minnesota Look To Continue Roy Oswalt's Struggles

Twins pitcher Cole De Vries has been back and forth between Minnesota and the Twins' Triple-A Rochester affiliate three times already this season, but he's pitched well in his cameos with Minnesota.

De Vries (2-1, 3.91 ERA) will be making his fifth start for the Twins this season. He was sent down to Rochester after giving up just one run in six innings in a spot start last Saturday against Kansas City but was recalled Tuesday.

The Twins' Justin Morneau is hitting 13-for-37 (.351) during his current nine-game hitting streak, including a 2-for-4 performance Saturday.

Roy Oswalt likely will never be the hard-throwing righty he was with Houston, where he posted 143 wins and a 3.24 ERA across ten seasons with the Astros, but even he didn't think he would struggle like this in his age 34 season.

He allowed 11 runs against the White Sox Tuesday, and opposing hitters are batting .422 against Oswalt. However, Oswalt is striking out 8.3 per nine innings (7.1 K/9 career) and walking just 2.1 per nine (2.1 BB/9 career), so if Oswalt can limit his baserunners, he should start seeing success again.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm ET from Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

For more on the Minnesota Twins, head over to Twinkie Town, while Lone Star Ball is your source for Texas Rangers news and analysis. For MLB news and analysis, check out SBNation's MLB Page.

Twins Vs. Rangers Final Score: Minnesota Falls To Texas In 10 Innings, 4-3

The Minnesota Twins put forth a strong effort in Saturday's game two in Arlington, but fell in 10 innings in walk-off fashion to the Texas Rangers, 4-3.

Minnesota opened the night's scoring in the top half of the second frame with an RBI groundout from Trevor Plouffe and an RBI single from shortstop Brian Dozier to take a quick 2-0 advantage. After immediately coughing up their brief lead, the Twins received Josh Willingham's 19th home run of the season in the sixth inning before immediately surrendering a solo shot to Adrian Beltre in the bottom of the inning.

After 3.2 scoreless innings from the Twins' bullpen as the game headed into extras, Texas finally broke through in the 10th inning against Minnesota reliever Kyle Waldrop on a Nelson Cruz RBI double. The 26-year-old Waldrop yielded a pair of hits on just 11 pitches to take the loss, which marked the first of his pro career.

Despite the loss, the Twins will look to take the three-game series in Sunday's finale. Manager Ron Gardenhire will send rookie Cole De Vries to the mound to face newly-signed Texas veteran Roy Oswalt.

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Twins Vs. Rangers: Minnesota's Samuel Deduno To Make First Career Start

The Minnesota Twins were able to take advantage of the slumping Texas Rangers with Friday night's 5-1 victory, but Texas will be looking to right the ship in Game 2 of the series on Saturday.

The Twins' starting pitcher will be Samuel Deduno, making his first career start and his first appearance for the Twins. Deduno has gone 1-2 with a 2.14 ERA in nine starts for the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings, and made six appearances for the Rockies and Padres over the past two seasons, posting a 3.18 ERA.

The Rangers will again rest their All-Star Yu Darvish before next week's festivities, opting for Derek Holland, who will be making a return from the DL for his first start since June 5. He has a 5-4 record with a 5.10 ERA in 11 starts this year.

Saturday's game will be at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington at 7:15 p.m. ET.

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Twins Vs. Rangers Final Score: Minnesota Tops Texas, 5-1

The Minnesota Twins opened their series with the Texas Rangers on a positive note Friday night. A three-run third inning and a solid showing from Francisco Liriano powered Minnesota to a 5-1 win.

Joe Mauer, getting the start as the designated hitter, and Justin Morneau produced most of the Twins' offense. Mauer drove in two with a single and a sac fly, raising his batting average to a team-best .330, the third-best mark in the American League. Morneau singled in a run and belted a solo shot, his 11th of the season, in the seventh inning to extend the lead. It was Morneau's first homer since June 4.

Liriano, making his eighth start since returning to the rotation on May 30, was not flawless, but he was effective. The lefty walked six and allowed five hits through six and two thirds innings, but allowed only one run while striking out six. Since returning to the rotation, Liriano has a 2.74 ERA.

Minnesota is back in action behind Samuel Deduno on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. Eastern.

For more on the Minnesota Twins and the Texas Rangers, check out their respective SB Nation blogs at Twinkie Town and Lone Star Ball. More news and analysis on MLB can be found over at Baseball Nation as well as SB Nation's Youtube Channel:

Twins Vs. Rangers: Starting Lineups For Friday's Game

The Minnesota Twins begin a three-game set with the most prolific offense in baseball on Friday night at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, as manager Ron Gardenhire's team looks to make up some ground before the All-Star break.

On the mound to face a Texas lineup that has combined to produce MLB-bests in runs (434), batting average (.281), and on-base percentage (.342) is none other than Minnesota lefty Francisco Liriano. Liriano has only served up one home run ball in seven outings since being banished to the bullpen earlier in the year, and is whiffing nearly seven batters per start over that same span.

Twins hitters will be looking for an edge on Friday night against Texas left-hander Martin Perez, a 21-year-old Venezuelan who has thrown exactly 123 pitches in the pros. The six-foot, 165 pound prospect won his first career MLB start over Oakland back on June 30, but has yet to face adversity on the mound against big league hitters.

Here are the starting lineups for game one:

Twins
1. Ben Revere - CF
2. Darin Mastroianni - RF
3. Joe Mauer - DH
4. Josh Willingham - LF
5. Justin Morneau - 1B
6. Trevor Plouffe - 3B
7. Brian Dozier - SS
8. Drew Butera - C
9. Alexi Casilla - 2B
Francisco Liriano - SP

Rangers
1. Ian Kinsler - 2B
2. Elvis Andrus - SS
3. Josh Hamilton - LF
4. Adrian Beltre - 3B
5. Michael Young - DH
6. Nelson Cruz - RF
7. Mike Napoli - 1B
8. Yorvit Torrealba - C
9. Craig Gentry - CF
Martin Perez - SP

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Twins Vs. Rangers: Minnesota Faces Suddenly Slumping Texas

The Minnesota Twins will kick off a three game series before the All-Star break in Texas against the Rangers on Friday.