The Minnesota Twins try to make it two in a row on Wednesday when they continue a four-game series with the Texas Rangers at Target Field.
Minnesota ended a four-game slide in dramatic fashion on Tuesday, as Eduardo Nunez tied the game with a single, eluded Adrian Beltre on his way to third to keep the inning alive and then sprinted home when Joakim Soria was unable to handle an innocent dribbler to help the Twins rally for a 4-3 win.
Oswaldo Arcia hit a one-out double into right center before Nunez knotted the contest two batters later with a base hit into right to bring him home. Nunez advanced to second on the throw to the plate and then circled around Beltre on his way to third when Kurt Suzuki bounced one to the All-Star third baseman.
Rangers manager Ron Washington came out to argue that Nunez was out of the basepath, but it is not a reviewable play.
"Last year I ran out to left field in Houston and they called me out. Nobody tagged me. So this guy is safe? I just don't know where the line is," Beltre said.
Eduardo Escobar was intentionally walked by Soria (1-2) to load the bases and Soria bobbled Danny Santana's roller to the left of the mound, which allowed Nunez to cross the plate.
"A very exciting baseball game," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "Fortunately for us, the breaks finally went our way in the end."
Arcia also added a solo homer for the Twins, while Glen Perkins (2-0) tossed a scoreless top of the ninth to pick up the win.
Alex Rios smacked a triple and a double among his three hits to go with a run scored for Texas, which had a three-game winning streak stopped. Rios, by the way, holds the highest career batting average (.359) in Target Field history
Getting the call for the Twins on Wednesday will be righty Kyle Gibson, who has lost three of his last four decisions. Gibson was defeated in San Francisco on Friday, as the Giants reached him for five runs and five hits in five innings, dropping him to 4-4 on the year to go along with a 4.68 ERA.
He's been terrific at home this season, going 3-1 with a 2.25 ERA in four starts at Target Field
"I don't think there's anything to it," said Gibson, who has never faced the Rangers. "I feel like the numbers are definitely very interesting. A little deceiving at times. Couple breaks here and there in a game that change a lot. I feel like each start I've been real close to having a quality start.
"It's not like I like throwing here better than anywhere else. I just feel like I'm catching breaks here that I'm not catching on the road."
Texas, meanwhile, will counter with veteran lefty Joe Saunders, who has been shelved since April 4, when he was hit on the ankle by a comebacker in an 8-1 road loss to Tampa Bay in his season debut.
"It could have been a blessing in disguise. Maybe I wasn't ready to go through April," Saunders said. "I'm ready to go. You take my first start at Triple-A, two runs in five innings. My last outing, one run in seven innings. I'm getting a lot of ground balls. I feel like my mechanics are right on point."
Saunders is 3-2 with a 4.88 ERA in five starts against the Twins, but hasn't faced them since 2010.
Minnesota took four of its seven meetings with the Rangers last season.
[SportsNetwork.com]
