Say this for the Twins—they were able to shake off an historically bad beating on Monday to rally late and beat the Rangers on Tuesday. It was a victory, in many ways, that has been typical of the Ron Gardenhire era. A never say die, there’s always a chance mentality that allowed the Twins to plate two runs in the top of the 9th to steal a win from the Rangers. It was a great performance from the bullpen matched with clutch hitting that have almost been the trademark of the Twins over these last few seasons.
But the starting pitching, which has historically been good, is on a run of bad performances that must be stopped. In the Texas series so far, Twins starters have gone 7 2/3 innings, and have given up 16 runs. To try and stem the tide of horrendous outings tonight will be Brian Duensing (7-8, 4.53 ERA), coming off one of his worst outings of the year against the Tigers, and he will be opposed by the red hot Colby Lewis (10-7, 3.93 ERA).
Lewis, who has won five straight decisions and has gone six innings or more in 7 straight starts, something Twins manager Ron Gardenhire would probably kill for right now.
First pitch is at 7:05 CST from Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.