Rangers Defeat Twins

The Texas Rangers broke their five game losing streak after defeating the Minnesota Twins 4-3 on Saturday. The Rangers finally found their hitting stroke again as they won in the 10th inning off of a double by Nelson Cruz that sent Adrian Beltre to home plate.

“It was a team effort,” Cruz said. “The first pitch, I was just looking to see what he had. I hadn’t faced him before. After that, I was trying to drive the ball and hit a line drive somewhere.”

Pitcher Derek Holland started for the rangers after coming back from injury. Holland played six innings and gave up only three runs and six hits. He also had four strikeouts in the win.

The Rangers batters played a great game as they matched the Twins with 10 hits a piece. Josh Hamilton of the Rangers hit his 27th home run in the bottom of the fourth inning. He now ties Toronto Blue Jays Jose Bautista for Major League leader in home runs. Adrian Beltre came up strong in the game scoring runs in the 2nd and 10th innings. Beltre also recorded his his 15th home run in the sixth inning.

“It was important that we get back on the winning side,” said manager Ron Washington. “We battled tonight. We kept getting guys out there, the opportunities were there. Finally, in the 10th, Beltre and Cruz took care of things for us. The pitching was outstanding. I thought [Derek] Holland did an outstanding job. The bullpen did the rest.”

The Twins offense started strong in the beginning but were held scoreless after six innings of play. Josh Willingham hit his 19th homer of the season in the 6th inning. Willingham finished with a hit, a run and an RBI to lead the Twins.

Roy Oswalt and the Rangers look to improve their winning streak and untie the 1-1 series as they take on Cole De Vries and the Minnesota Twins on Sunday. First pitch is at 6:05 p.m.

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