After opening the game quickly with a Josh Willingham RBI single, the Minnesota Twins were forced to the locker room on Sunday afternoon in the bottom of the first inning, due to a rain delay.
Twins players were bombarded with rain while out in the field preparing for the bottom half of the inning, and starter Cole De Vries was then forced to throw exactly five pitches before umpires temporarily called the game. Grounds crew members switched back and forth between removing and re-applying the tarp shortly thereafter, but it now appears all involved are fully confident the weather will clear.
Already staked to a quick lead by Willingham's offense, it will be interesting to see how De Vries, a 27-year-old rookie, responds to having his usual routine broken up like this. With his team desperate to avoid dropping its sixth straight game, the inexperienced right-hander will need to be sharp with his command in order to quell a dangerous Texas lineup on such a rainy day.
Check out Twinkie Town for more Twins coverage, and be sure to visit Lone Star Ball for more Rangers news. Also head over to Baseball Nation for even more news and analysis from around the league.