ARLINGTON, Texas
– Throughout their history, from Jeff Burroughs to Juan Gonzalez and Rafael Palmeiro, and on to the current group led by Josh Hamilton, the Texas Rangers have been known for their ability to score in bunches.

Monday night provided the latest entry to their legacy of big-bang offense when they put up the most runs and hits in the majors this season in a 20-6 rout of the Minnesota Twins.

A day later, the Rangers’ clubhouse was still full of talk about the glut of offense as they got ready for the second of a four-game series against the Twins.

“Nobody wanted to make an out,” Nelson Cruz said on Tuesday, recalling his four-hit effort. “It’s contagious.”

It was hardly a team record-setting performance, however. The Rangers have scored at least 20 runs five times in their history, including a 30-3 pasting of the Baltimore Orioles on Aug. 22, 2007.

Rangers players say their dugout is usually loose, but it was looser than usual with the pressure off when they built an 18-1 advantage after five innings.

“When you get a big lead, it’s a time you relax in the dugout,” said Ian Kinsler, who had a homer among his four hits and matched a career high with four RBIs. “But when you walk up to the plate, you still try to take the best at-bat you can. There’s probably more (sunflower) seeds, more gum flying around (in the dugout).”

The Rangers have maintained focus on offense all season. Prior to Tuesday’s game, they led the AL in hits (988), were second in batting average (.276), second in runs (526) and second in homers (125).

“It’s a loose group, but we’re ultra-competitive too,” said Michael Young, who homered and drove in three runs. “There’s no lackadaisical attitude. We still take our at-bats very seriously. We don’t give any away.”

Rangers manager Ron Washington said it would be natural to let up with a big lead, but his team didn’t do that.

“We didn’t let down,” Washington said. “But your mind is less cluttered. You’re less worried about things. But you can’t let down because you can’t turn this game on and off. So when you’re flowing, you’ve got to go with it. And it was flowing yesterday.”

The Rangers had a league-best 27 hits and became the first team to score 20 runs since Milwaukee beat Pittsburgh 20-0 on April 22 last season.

Mike Napoli also had four hits as all the Rangers starters had at least two except for third baseman Chris Davis, who went 0 for 6.

Hamilton and Endy Chavez also had three RBIs apiece as the Rangers surpassed Cleveland’s total in a 19-1 blowout at Kansas City on May 16. Texas also passed the 25 hits that the Los Angeles Dodgers had against Minnesota on June 27.

And the Rangers did all that without RBI leader Adrian Beltre, who’s on the 15-day disabled list with a strained hamstring.

Texas continued to thrive against right-handed starters, improving to 42-30 after knocking around Twins righthander Nick Blackburn for nine runs — six earned — and 11 hits in 2 2-3 innings.

Texas is only 17-14 against lefty starters. Hamilton entered Tuesday night’s game batting .350 against righthanders and only .188 against lefties.

Despite the evidence, the players have few explanations for the disparity.

“That’s something we don’t think a whole lot about,” Young said. “I don’t know what’s behind it. A lot of times, those things are pretty coincidental.”

The Twins’ bullpen was so drained that manager Ron Gardenhire had outfielder Michael Cuddyer pitch the eighth.

Texas loaded the bases with one out against Cuddyer, who managed to work out of the jam.

Washington said he encouraged his hitters to maintain their intensity against Cuddyer.

“Because he’s a position player, he’s got no business on that mound,” Washington said. “I don’t want him going back and talking about how he got me out. … It’s time to pad your stats. I’m gonna give up because there’s a position player on the mound? No. That’s the attitude you’ve gotta have. But give Cuddyer credit, he got out of it.”

Gardenhire had trouble sleeping after watching his team allow 10 or more runs for the 12th time this season and the most by the Twins since giving up 23 to the Kansas City Royals in 1974.

“There’s no sense in going over a game like that,” Gardenhire said on Tuesday. “It wasn’t a fun game to sit through.”

His hope for the Rangers heading into Tuesday night’s game?

“They’ve got to be tired,” Gardenhire said. “We wore ‘em out last night.”

Read More: twins baseball, minnesota twins baseball, rangers baseball, texas rangers baseball, rangers at twins, rangers vs twins, rangers twins recap, Jim Hoey (P – MIN), Colby Lewis (P – TEX), C.J. Wilson (P – TEX), Jim Thome (DH – MIN), Joe Mauer (C – MIN), Justin Morneau (1B – MIN), Jason Kubel (DH – MIN), Michael Cuddyer (RF – MIN), Alexi Casilla (2B – MIN), Scott Baker (P – MIN), Jason Repko (RF – MIN), Denard Span (CF – MIN), Anthony Swarzak (P – MIN), Drew Butera (C – MIN), Brian Duensing (P – MIN), Matt Tolbert (2B – MIN), Texas Rangers, Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers at Minnesota Twins, Jun 10, 2011 7:10 PM CDT

The Texas Rangers put a screeching halt to their seven-game losing streak at Target Field on Friday night, scoring seven runs in the second inning and chasing Minnesota Twins starter Brian Duensing en route to a 9-3 victory over the Twins on Friday evening at Target Field.

Fielding a lineup that didn’t have any sign of Denard Span (concussion), Justin Morneau (wrist soreness), Joe Mauer, Jason Kubel, or Jim Thome, the Twins’ offense just didn’t have enough gas to keep up with the Texas offense, who scored early and often against Duensing. The Rangers sent eleven men to the plate in their seven-run second inning, and Duensing did not come back out for the third, having been replaced by Anthony Swarzak. Only three of the seven runs the Rangers scored were earned runs, thanks to errors by Jason Repko and Alexi Casilla, but it was still enough to knock out Duensing, who was sent to his sixth loss in his last seven decisions.

Matt Tolbert, Michael Cuddyer, and Drew Butera each drove in one run for the Twins, who lost for just the second time in their last nine games.

The loss for Duensing dropped his record on the season to 3-6 on the season. Swarzak pitched six innings in relief, allowing two runs and six hits in that time. Jim Hoey also pitched a perfect inning in relief. The victory for the Rangers went to starter C.J. Wilson, who now has a record of 7-3 on the season, having scattered eight hits and allowing three runs in the victory for Texas.

The same two teams will get together at Target Field on Saturday afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for 3:10 PM Central time in Minneapolis. The Rangers will start right-hander Colby Lewis (5-6, 4.37 ERA), while the Twins will turn to right-hander Scott Baker (3-4, 3.86 ERA).

Read More: game recap, Michael Young (DH – TEX), C.J. Wilson (P – TEX), Josh Hamilton (LF – TEX), Adrian Beltre (3B – TEX), Elvis Andrus (SS – TEX), Andres Blanco (2B – TEX), Brian Duensing (P – MIN), Texas Rangers, Minnesota Twins

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The Rangers scored seven runs in the second inning to take a 7-0 lead in a game threatened my inclement weather. Familiar script, right?

Except, this time, the Rangers got to keep playing, and, as they likely would have the last time, coasted to an easy victory. Their first win ever in Target Field, in fact.

It was a day that was all about how awesome the Rangers position players were. Every Rangers starter but Andres Blanco and Nelson Cruz had a hit. In fact, every Ranger but those two, Elvis Andrus, and Josh Hamilton (who had a double) slapped multiple, and Michael Young showed good signs of breaking out of his slump with three hits to lead the team. It wasn’t just the offense, though, it was the defense, highlighted by an incredible assist to third by Cruz and amazing infield stops by Adrian Beltre and Andrus.

What was unusual was the Rangers scoring nine runs with only two extra base hits the whole game. Every other hit was a single, they just mostly came in the second inning. Beltre opened the inning with the Rangers’ only walk of the game (against just three strikeouts), and ended the scoring with a double for the only extra base hit of the inning. In between, there were six singles — Hamilton making the only out — and a reached-on-error. Beltre added another RBI single in the fourth, and Young did so in the sixth to give the Rangers nine runs with almost no power. For one day, the Rangers were an early 20th century baseball team, excelling on putting everything in play they could and hoping to string together enough singles to score runs. It was nothing if not exciting, and put the game out of reach early.

The strangeness of the game may just have been influenced by the umpires’ decision to keep playing through the rain, which was particularly heavy in the second. Brian Duensing is better than a seven runs in two innings pitcher, and the weather at least had a small part in that, maybe a larger part. The Twins pair of errors in the inning came when Jason Repko slipped in the wet outfield and Alexi Casilla couldn’t handle a strange hop on the infield grass. Those directly lead to runs and baserunners, and who knows how much trouble Duensing had hitting his spots in the rain.

On the other side, C.J. Wilson’s performance — outside of runs allowed — was not necessarily his best, either. With three walks and a hit batter to just one strikeout on three swinging strikes, he was probably a tad lucky to have gone seven innings with three runs allowed. With the weather the way it was, it’s not hard to believe that was the reason Wilson had trouble missing bats or finding the zone Friday (Dana DeMuth’s small zone didn’t help, either). We know he’s better, and one game in the rain probably means even less than one game normally does.

Regardless, even without some good luck and defensive help, Wilson still pitched well enough to win handily simply because the Rangers did a better job than the Twins of punishing a pitcher battling the elements. For the ninth time in 15 games, they’ve delivered cheap Papa John’s pizza to the people of the Metroplex, and, after an 8-0 Cardinals loss, it gives Texas the second best run differential in baseball.

GAME CHARTS

FanGraphs Win Expectancy

Biggest Contributions (What is this, I don’t even. . . ?)

1. Mike Napoli 12%
2. C.J. Wilson 9%
3. Adrian Beltre 8%

Dan DeMuth’s Strikezone from Brooks Baseball

VOTE FOR THE PLAYER OF THE GAME

Read More: C.J. Wilson (P – TEX), Brian Duensing (P – MIN), Texas Rangers, Minnesota Twins

The Texas Rangers look to avoid a losing streak on Friday night as they take on the Minnesota Twins on the second game of their road trip. 

C.J. Wilson gets the start on the mound for Texas, who are looking to rebound from a walk-off loss to the Twins last night. 

Wilson is coming off one of his better outings this year. Against the Indians, Wilson allowed just three hits and issued two walks while striking out seven in seven and two thirds innings of shut out ball en route to his sixth victory of the season. The fine outing lowered Wilson’s ERA to 3.03 and his WHIP to 1.17. He’s also struck out 82 batters on the season in 89 innings of work.

Texas will face off against Brian Duensing, who is 3-5 with a 4.73 ERA and 1.46 WHIP on the year. 

Let’s hope Texas’ bats can give Wilson a cushion and the Rangers can snap out of this mini-funk as they’ve lost three of their last four games.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. CDT.

Read More: twins baseball, minnesota twins baseball, rangers baseball, texas rangers baseball, rangers at twins, rangers vs twins, C.J. Wilson (P – TEX), Jim Thome (DH – MIN), Joe Mauer (C – MIN), Justin Morneau (1B – MIN), Jason Kubel (DH – MIN), Alexi Casilla (2B – MIN), Brian Duensing (P – MIN), Luke Hughes (3B – MIN), Tsuyoshi Nishioka (2B – MIN), Texas Rangers, Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers at Minnesota Twins, Jun 10, 2011 7:10 PM CDT

The Texas Rangers are winless in seven games at Target Field, and the Minnesota Twins will attempt to carry that forward on Friday night, as the two teams will get together for the second game of a four-game set in Minneapolis.

The Rangers came back on Thursday night thanks to the long ball, but the Twins kept scrapping away and eventually won on Alexi Casilla’s two-out single in the bottom of the ninth to score Luke Hughes and give the Twins a 5-4 victory over Texas. The victory was Minnesota’s seventh in their last eight games.

The Twins, who were 16.5 games out in the American League Central just a week ago, are now 11 games behind the Cleveland Indians, who have gone into a bit of a tailspin. They still have quite a ways to go in order to get themselves back into serious contention, but with so many players currently missing for the Twins, such an opportunity seems much more feasible than it might have just a week or so ago. After all, much of the current hot streak the Twins are on has been done without Joe Mauer, Jim Thome, Jason Kubel, and Tsuyoshi Nishioka, all of whom are slated to come back in the fairly near future, and with Justin Morneau not checking in at 100% due to various problems.

Tonight, the Twins will hand the ball to left-hander Brian Duensing (3-5, 4.73 ERA). In his last start, Duensing snapped a personal five-game losing streak when he put on a brilliant performance against the Kansas City Royals. Duensing pitched eight shutout innings, allowing only six hits in a game that the Twins went on to win by a final score of 6-0. The victory was Duensing’s first since April 23, a stretch that saw Duensing collect five losses and two no-decisions (in games that the Twins went on to lose).

The Rangers will counter with left-hander C.J. Wilson (6-3, 3.03 ERA). In Wilson’s last nine starts, the Rangers have gone win-loss-win-loss-win-loss-win-loss-win, with Wilson collecting a 4-3 record with two no-decisions in that stretch (the Rangers split those two no-decisions). In his last start, he was brilliant in allowing just three hits over 7.2 shutout innings against the Cleveland Indians, helping the Rangers to a 2-0 victory in Cleveland.

First pitch for this one is scheduled for 7:10 PM Central time tonight at Target Field. As always, head over to Twinkie Town for the Game Thread for the best conversation on the net with other Twins fans, and come back here for the recap when things have finished.

Read More: twins baseball, minnesota twins baseball, rangers baseball, texas rangers baseball, rangers at twins, rangers vs twins, twins rangers recap, Jim Hoey (P – MIN), Michael Young (DH – TEX), C.J. Wilson (P – TEX), David Murphy (LF – TEX), Josh Hamilton (LF – TEX), Yorvit Torrealba (C – TEX), Delmon Young (LF – MIN), Mike Napoli (C – TEX), Michael Cuddyer (RF – MIN), Alexi Casilla (2B – MIN), Adrian Beltre (3B – TEX), Chuck James (P – MIN), Mark Lowe (P – TEX), Arthur Rhodes (P – TEX), Nick Blackburn (P – MIN), Jose Mijares (P – MIN), Elvis Andrus (SS – TEX), Rene Rivera (C – MIN), Craig Gentry (RF – TEX), Brian Duensing (P – MIN), Matt Tolbert (2B – MIN), Luke Hughes (3B – MIN), Brian Dinkelman (2B – MIN), Danny Valencia (3B – MIN), Derek Holland (P – TEX), Mitch Moreland (1B – TEX), Alex Burnett (P – MIN), Ben Revere (CF – MIN), Texas Rangers, Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers at Minnesota Twins, Jun 9, 2011 7:10 PM CDT

The Twins lost a lead late on Thursday night against the Texas Rangers, but they refused to give up, and were rewarded with a 5-4 victory when Alexi Casilla singled home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth.

Things got off to a rocky start for the Twins and starter Nick Blackburn, as he gave up a solo home run to Josh Hamilton with two out in the bottom of the first to give the Rangers an early 1-0 lead. The Twins got that run back in the bottom of the second, when Delmon Young led off the frame with a solo home run of his own, this one off of Rangers’ starter Derek Holland.

The Twins took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the fifth. Rene Rivera and Matt Tolbert reached base to give the Twins runners on first and second with nobody out, but Ben Revere bunted into a fielder’s choice that saw Rivera forced out at third, and Alexi Casilla grounded into a fielder’s choice that saw Revere forced out at second. So, with runners on the corners and two out, Michael Cuddyer decided that he had seen quite enough, and blasted an offering from Holland over the wall in center field for a three-run homer, giving the Twins a 4-1 lead.

In the top of the sixth, Texas outfielder Josh Hamilton grounded one back to Blackburn, who threw wildly to first, allowing Hamilton to advance to second. After Michael Young struck out, Adrian Beltre singled to center to score Hamilton and make the score 4-2. After an error by Danny Valencia on a grounder by Nelson Cruz gave the Rangers runners on the corners, Mitch Moreland lifted a sacrifice fly to center to score Beltre and cut the Minnesota lead to 4-3.

Blackburn took the mound for the start of the eighth inning, and after retiring Beltre on a groundout, Nelson Cruz hit one that might not have come down yet, a solo blast that tied the game at four. Blackburn was then lifted for Jose Mijares, who allowed back-to-back singles to Moreland and Yorvit Torrealba, and was lifted for Alex Burnett. Burnett got a fielder’s choice groundout from pinch-hitter Craig Gentry, and then hit Elvis Andrus with a pitch to load the bases. Ron Gardenhire then brought in left-hander Chuck James to face David Murphy, but Rangers’ manager Ron Washington lifted Murphy for pinch-hitter Mike Napoli. However, James got Napoli to ground into a fielder’s choice to Casilla at shortstop, and the threat was halted.

After James and Jim Hoey combined to set the Rangers down in the top of the ninth, Luke Hughes led off the bottom of the ninth with a ground rule double down the left field line. Brian Dinkelman pinch-hit for Rivera, and went down on strikes against Rangers’ reliever Mark Lowe. After Matt Tolbert was able to work Lowe for a walk, 206-year old left-hander Arthur Rhodes came into the game to face Ben Revere. Revere flew out to left for the Twins’ second out, and Casilla went up to bat against Rhodes. Casilla lined a 2-1 offering from Rhodes into left field deep enough for Hughes to come around and score, and the Twins had their seventh victory in their last eight ball games.

Hoey wound up getting the victory for the Twins, his first win of the year, raising his record to 1-2. Lowe took the loss from the Rangers, evening his record at 1-1. Neither starter figured into the decision, as Holland allowed four runs on eight hits in 7.1 innings, striking out ten in the process, while Blackburn allowed four runs on ten hits in 7.1 innings, striking out six. Each pitcher allowed two home runs on the evening.

The same two teams will get together at Target Field on Friday night, with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 PM. The Rangers will send left-hander C.J. Wilson (6-3, 3.03 ERA) to the mound, while the Twins will give the ball to lefty Brian Duensing (3-5, 4.73 ERA).