Texas is now a half-game up in the race for home field advantage during the first round of the playoffs. Vladimir Guerrero (above) and Josh Hamilton each had a home run apiece, knocking in all four of the Rangers runs for the game. (AP Photo/Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Brandon Wade)Another game, another hard-fought win for the Texas Rangers (72-54). The Minnesota Twins (72-55) have shown to be no pushover, but Texas keeps finding ways to win against a solid contender in the American League.
Rangers' starter C.J. Wilson (W, 13-5) gave the Rangers six solid innings on the mound, and the entire makeshift bullpen (five relievers) combined to throw three shutout innings, allowing Texas to hang on for the win.
"It's nice to see how they handled it," manager Ron Washington said. "They had to handle it, that's what we had."
Wilson, normally Kryptonite to left-handed batters, struggled against lefties on this night. Wilson has allowed only 12 hits to lefties in 117 at bats this season, with Twins center-fielder Denard Span, designated hitter Jason Kubel and catcher Joe Mauer accounting for five of those hits Wednesday alone. The Rangers' starter was able to pitch through those difficulties, however, allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits with six strikeouts in six innings pitched.
"He throws hard and has a good cutter," Kubel said of Wilson, whom he went 2 for 4 against with a double and a run for the game. "He has several pitches so you can't just sit on one."
For the third time in the last four games, the Rangers got out in front early by scoring two runs in the first inning. After an Elvis Andrus groundout to lead-off the game, Michael Young walked, taking four straight balls to get out of an 0-2 count, and up came the streaking Hamilton to the plate. Ham-Bone took seven pitches, fouling off two, before unloading on a belt-high breaking ball from Twins starter Brian Duensing (L, 7-2) that landed about 422 feet away from the plate for a two-run homer. Over the last six games, Hamilton is 10 for 25 from the plate (.400) with four home runs and 11 RBI. The best player in baseball has also been the hottest player over the last week.
"Josh is doing all right," Young said. "It's a lot more fun to be his teammate right now and get to enjoy the show up close."
Guerrero picked up where Hamilton left off, knocking in Young again, this time from second-base with a single into center in the fourth inning. That wasn't it for Vlad, as he made sure Wilson went out of the game with a W. Guerrero crushed the second pitch he saw to start off the sixth, deep over the left-field wall, putting Texas ahead for good at 4-3. Guerrero had gone 0 for 4 the night before, but came back strong going 3 for 4 with a homer and two RBI in this game.
"I'm going to keep writing his name in the lineup until I decide to give him a day off because I know at any minute he can make a difference," Washington said. "Tonight he made a difference."
After Guerrero's big homer, Texas had three innings for the bullpen to close out. The Rangers used five relievers to finish off the Twins, with each stepping up to procure the win. Washington was forced to do this because Neftali Feliz was unavailable to pitch after pitching in three straight contests and Frank Francisco is still nursing arm fatigue. But Michael Kirkman, Darren O'Day, Darren Oliver, Alexi Ogando, and Matt Harrison (S, 2) combined to allow only two hits, while striking five, over the final three innings of the game.
"Just the wolfpack, they came in there and just everybody took a bite, it was pretty cool," Wilson said of his bullpen's performance. "Every single guy stepped up. It was awesome."
Texas has shown in this series (not only that they are a much better team at home than on the road) that they have the ability to step it up, as a team, when they need to the most. From Andres Blanco's offensive tear over the last few games, to the bullpen's performance tonight; these Rangers have some serious depth at every position.
The Rangers look to closeout the four-game series with the Twins with a sweep Thursday night at the Ballpark. Cliff Lee (10-7, 3.09 ERA) will try to shake off a recent run of less than stellar starts for Texas, while Twins' Ace Francisco Liriano (11-7, 3.45), who hasn't lost a game since July 9, gets the start for Minnesota.
First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
News and Notes:
- After an 0 for 4 night, Elvis Andrus' Major-League leading 14-game hitting streak came to and end.
- With a 3.02 ERA, Rangers starter C.J. Wilson has the fifth best ERA in the American League. Wilson's 13-5 record is eighth among A.L. pitchers.
(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)
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