Twins' DH Jim Thome (above) hit two homers, passing Mark McGwire for ninth place on the all-time home run list, and drove in four runs as he and third baseman Matt Tolbert combined for nine RBI for the game. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)The Texas Rangers (75-60) are going to have a tough time winning on the road in the playoffs.
After a 12-4 beat-down at the hands of the Minnesota Twins (79-57), Texas still has a giant donut in the win column on the road this season against the three other likely American League playoff teams (Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees, and Twins). The Rangers are 0-11 away from home this season against these potential playoff foes, with only one road game (tomorrow against the Twins) remaining against these teams.
The trend continued Saturday afternoon, as Twins' hitters feasted on starter Colby Lewis (L, 9-12) and the rest of the Rangers' pitching staff.
Lewis had his shortest outing of the season at only 3 2-3 innings as he struggled with his control from the get-go. Minnesota batted around in the first inning (Lewis walked two batters and hit another in the inning), loading the bases twice and scoring five runs. Lewis set or tied season-worsts in both earned runs (9) and hits (9), as he registered his lowest pitch-count of the season (76 pitches).
"Left some pitches over the plate, and that's what happens," Lewis said. "I feel great. There's nothing wrong with me. I feel like I did opening day. It's a situation where I didn't really get very good calls when I needed to get calls."
The main culprits for the abuse of the Rangers' pitching staff were Matt Tolbert and Jim Thome. The duo combined to go 4 for 6 from the plate with two homers and two triples, scoring the final nine runs of the game for Minnesota.
Tolbert, a utility infielder with a career .248 batting average and only 36 RBI over three seasons in the Majors before Saturday, had arguably the best game of his career. Filling in for everyday third-baseman Danny Valencia, Tolbert cleared the bases twice with triples (one with bases loaded), setting a career-high with five RBI. Thome, who now has 584 homers in his 19-year career, passed Mark McGwire for ninth on the all-time list with his second homer of the game - a three-run shot over the left field wall and into the Twins' bullpen in the fourth.
"Anything he does, you just like watching him," Tolbert said. "It kind of doesn't set in on you that your playing on a team with a future Hall of Famer."
The game got out of hand so fast that the Rangers found themselves down 9-0 before they got a run on the board in the fifth. Texas scored in the fifth, sixth and ninth innings of the game and Julio Borbon, who came in for Josh Hamilton (see News and Notes), had a two-run double in the sixth to lead the Rangers. Ian Kinsler had a solo homer in the ninth, and Mitch Moreland had an RBI single in the fourth for the other two Ranger runs.
Texas needs to rebound quickly after a beating like this. The Rangers are three-and-a-half games back of the Twins now for home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs, something they desperately need in order to have a shot at actually winning come playoff time. Another loss and you can pretty much forget about Texas catching Minnesota before the season concludes.
The final game of the series and the season between these two teams takes place Sunday afternoon at 1:10 p.m. C.J. Wilson (14-5, 2.88 ERA) will try to turn the tide for Texas, while Nick Blackburn (8-9, 6.04) gets the start for the Twins.
News and Notes:
- The best hitter in the Majors and the Rangers' center fielder, Josh Hamilton, left the game in the fifth after colliding against the wall in center on a leaping catch. Hamilton stayed in the game after the play and Washington said he was just winded later in the game, but (likely because of the score) he was taken out after the inning.
- Rich Harden pitched in relief for the first time as a Ranger and didn't provide much of it. Harden gave up three runs on two hits and walked one batter in two innings pitched.
(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)
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