The Minnesota Twins are struggling during this recent stretch in their season and the Texas Rangers are capitalizing off it. Winners of six of their last eight games, the Rangers are fresh off their 10th shutout of the season, leading the major leagues in the category. Joe Saunders led the effort while Luis Sardinas got the one-run game winner in the seven inning. The Twins are in desperate need of a win during the final game of a four-game home stand and hope to get one Thursday afternoon.
The Twins are in the midst of a 1-5 stretch and showing no signs of life. During the losing streak, the team is hitting just .187 combined with 10 runs over the six games. Leadoff hitter Brian Dozier is 2 for his last 18 while Trevor Plouffe is 3 for 22. Team star Joe Mauer is hitting just .200 in his last 10 games with no home runs and just two RBI. He was hitless on Wednesday, not helping the effort.
The Twins will hope that facing a rookie pitcher can break them out of their slump. Texas is sending Nick Martinez to the mound. He is 1-0 with a 2.86 ERA in four starts despite having a 9:10 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 22 innings on play. He got the win against Detroit in his last start, giving up just one run over six innings.
The Twins will rely on Samuel Deduno who is 1-3 with a 3.48 ERA on the season. He is coming off a start where he allowed a season-high three walks over five innings as the Twins fell to the San Francisco Giants. He is replacing Mike Pelfrey in the rotation, but Minnesota needs him to step up more than he has so far since getting bumped into the rotation. The Rangers have success of the pitcher. Adrian Beltre is 5 for 6 with two home runs in two games against him. While he might be just 2 for his last 12 atbats, the history of success bodes well for Texas.
