On a wet and wild day at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, the Minnesota Twins outlasted a dangerous Texas squad to take the fourth and final game of the series, 6-5.
The Twins opened the afternoon with a Josh Willingham RBI single in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead, but were then forced to sit for exactly one hour and 25 minutes while intermittent rain splattered the playing surface and forced the two squads into their respective dressing rooms.
Despite having his usual routine altered significantly by the weather, Minnesota starter Cole De Vries returned to the mound to post five innings of three-hit ball with five strikeouts to earn his third career victory. De Vries was originally forced to throw exactly five pitches in the rainy conditions in the bottom of the first inning before umpires delayed the game, but did not appear bothered whatsoever by the break in his workload.
All six Minnesota runs were knocked home by separate players in Sunday's game, as Ben Revere, Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Trevor Plouffe and Pedro Florimon each added an RBI in addition to Willingham. More importantly than erasing a possible four-game sweep, however, was the fact that Ron Gardenhire's team won for just the second time since Aug. 14.
Next up for the Twins is another four-game set against a playoff-caliber opponent, as the Seattle Mariners will travel to Target Field for game one on Monday evening. The upstart Mariners recently capped off a three-game sweep of Minnesota back on Aug. 19, but starter Liam Hendriks (0-6) will take the mound hoping to return the favor, as he aims for his first win of 2012.
Check out Twinkie Town for more Twins coverage, and be sure to visit Lone Star Ball for more on the Rangers. Also head over to Baseball Nation for even more news and analysis from around the league.