The Texas Rangers began their four-game set in Minnesota on a high this Thursday, beating the Twins by a score of 4-1.
The Rangers offense if finally heating up as they continue to make a push for a wild card spot, with 23-year-old upstart Joey Gallo hitting a three-run blast in Thursday’s win to give him four home runs over the last three games and 29 for the season – fourth-most in the AL.
More firepower will likely come from star third baseman Adrian Beltre this Friday as well. Beltre has six-career home runs against the Twins’ Bartolo Colon, which is the most against any active pitcher.
Run production will certainly be key for Texas, as the team will have struggling Martin Perez (5-9, 5.13 ERA) take the mound up next. The Venezuelan lefty allowed a season-high eight runs in his last start against the Orioles on July 30 and has come away with losing decisions in all three of his previous starts.
Failing to keep up in the wild card race are the Minnesota Twins, who’ve lost their eighth contest over their last 10.
The Twins are just 4.5 games behind the final wild card spot in the AL, but they certainly need to pick up the pace and somehow replicate their strong showing from the first half of the season.
Perhaps standout second baseman Brian Dozier could get something going for his team this Friday, as he’s hitting a sweet .318 against lefties this season. Slugger Miguel Sano – Minnesota’s leader in home runs and RBIs – needs to pitch in as well, considering he just had his five-game hitting streak snapped on Thursday.
Dozier and Sano surely need to do a lot of work against the Rangers again, especially with Bartolo Colon (2-9, 7.70 ERA) making his fourth start for the Twins and is still in search of his first win since May 15. Colon is coming off his best start in Minnesota, though, allowing three runs in 6.1 innings of work against the A’s this past Sunday.
Writer’s Prediction
The Rangers (-105) take the second of four games against the Twins, 4-2.
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