MINNEAPOLIS -- Texas closer Joakim Soria bobbled a slow-bouncing ball hit by Minnesotas Danny Santana to the left of the mound with two outs and the bases loaded in the ninth inning, allowing the winning run to score in the Twins 4-3 victory over the Rangers on Tuesday night. White Sox Jerseys China . The day began ominously for the Rangers when star pitcher Yu Darvish was scratched from his scheduled start with stiffness in his neck. Fill-in Scott Baker gave up three hits over six innings and Chris Gimenez hit a tiebreaking two-out RBI single in the sixth off Phil Hughes. But Soria (1-2) took his first blown save in nine chances with a shaky ninth inning patched together by the Twins, who ended their four-game losing streak. Oswaldo Arcia hit a one-out double off the wall in right-centre, just a few feet shy of where he homered off Baker in the second inning, and Eduardo Nunez tied the game with a two-out single. Then Nunez kept the rally alive with some nifty running. He moved up on the throw home that was up the line by right fielder Alex Rios. On a fielders choice grounder to Adrian Beltre, Nunez stopped short of the third basemans glove, scooted right and circled around to the bag before the tag. Then he scored the winning run when Santana ended the game with the softest of contact. Glen Perkins (2-0) pitched a scoreless ninth for the victory, stranding Rios after a leadoff triple that Santana, normally a shortstop, appeared to misplay in centre field and couldnt catch after getting twisted around. Hughes had his winning streak stopped at five. Over his last five turns, he had a 1.08 ERA and a 27-0 strikeout-walk ratio. Aaron Hicks saved Hughes from a huge deficit by sprinting to the warning track and snagging the ball with a perfectly timed leap above and beyond the centre field wall to steal a three-run homer from Donnie Murphy, who settled for a sacrifice fly. Rougned Odor followed with an RBI double to get one of those runs back. Shortstop Eduardo Escobar and left fielder Josh Willingham let a ball by Mitch Moreland bounce between them for a single to start the sixth. After giving up six runs in six innings in his only other start this season, last Friday at Detroit, Baker was supposed to resume a role as a long reliever. But he was in control the entire night. Baker was a second-round draft pick by the Twins in 2003 who spent five years in their rotation, including a 15-win season in 2009, but he developed elbow trouble and needed Tommy John ligament replacement surgery in 2012. So the last three years for the right-hander have been all about rehabilitation and re-establishing his place in the majors. The Rangers, who picked up Baker at the end of spring training, are his third team in two seasons. This was a stellar performance for him, even if hes bound to return to the bullpen soon. Baker didnt allow a walk and struck out four. He surrendered an RBI double to Joe Mauer with two outs in the third before retiring the last 10 batters he faced. NOTES: Rangers manager Ron Washington passed Bobby Valentine on the franchises all-time list for most games managed with 1,187. ... The Rangers will reinstate LHP Joe Saunders (0-1, 9.82) from the DL to start on Wednesday night, with RHP Kyle Gibson (4-4, 4.68 ERA) pitching for the Twins. ... Saunders was hit by a line drive on the left ankle in his first start on April 4, and after nearly two months of rehabilitation he will pitch with no restriction, Washington said. "The Minnesota Twins are going to tell us how limited hes going to be," he said. ... Gibson is 3-1 with a 2.25 ERA in four starts this year at home. ... Twins assistant GM Rob Antony said OF Sam Fuld, on the DL since May 8 due to concussion symptoms, has yet to resume on-field workouts, still lacking the three straight symptom-free days required for clearance. Custom Chicago White Sox Jerseys . The Toronto Argonauts (11-7) look for an opportunity to repeat as CFL champions when they host the surging Hamilton Tiger-Cats (10- on Sunday. Fake White Sox Jerseys . Yet coming off consecutive series losses at St. Louis and Pittsburgh, Los Angeles needed some sort of spark as August approaches. The Dodgers found it in the ballpark of their biggest rival, and left the Bay Area in first place following an emphatic three-game swing. https://www.cheapwhitesox.com/ . Vargas (8-3) allowed four singles and two walks while striking out five, allowing only two runners from a diluted Twins lineup to reach second base. Mike Moustakas and Jarrod Dyson hit RBI singles in the second inning against Kevin Correia (4-10), and that was all Vargas needed. CHONBURI, Thailand -- Anna Nordqvist made two late bogeys at the rainy LPGA Thailand, leaving her a stroke ahead Friday after the second round. The Swede shot an even-par 72 to remain 6 under. Germanys Sandra Gal, Paraguays Julieta Granada and Spains Azahara Munoz were tied for second. The players got a break from the usual hot, humid conditions, with the temperature only reaching the 70s the first two days at Siam Country Club. "I think we all expected it to be warmer," said Nordqvist, also a stroke ahead Thursday after opening with a 66. "Today with a little bit of rain and overcast it felt like I still had a lot of the energy leaving the 18th green." Nordqvist bogeyed Nos. 16 and 18. She had three birdies and three bogeys. "There were some tough pins out there," Nordqvist said. "A lot of them were on ridges, and I felt like I hit a lot of good shots and kept spinning off the ridges. Not much you can do. Felt like I hit it solid. A little disappointed to finish with a bogey on the last. "Overall, been hitting it great. Today, I felt like all things were good. Just couldnt get any putts to drop." The 26-year-old Nordqvist is winless since the 2009 LPGA Championship. "This is a position I been practicing to be in," Nordqvist said. "Halfway through and there are 36 more holes, but Im happy with the way Im playing. Hopefully, can make a couple more putts over the weekend and that should take care of it." Munoz and Grranada shot 68, and Gal had a 70. Chicago White Sox Shirts. Granada had a bogey-free round. "I holed out twice with lob shots, so that was nice," Granada said. "It was very welcome." Gal had three birdies and a bogey. "I didnt change my game plan, but it was just playing longer," Gal said. "Some of the pins were quite tough today, tucked in corners where you usually you just would go for the middle of the green. And then on top of that, you would have maybe one or two putts more because you just dont get any roll." Americans Stacy Lewis and Michelle Wie were 4 under. The third-ranked Lewis had seven birdies and four bogeys in a 69. Wie shot 73. Light showers in the morning left the greens and fairways softer than usual. "Just had the rain to start and just changed the way the golf course played," Lewis said. "Kind of took me a couple holes to adjust to that. Once I did, I hit some good shots. You just had to be a lot more aggressive, fly back to holes we normally cant do that. Just played completely different than it ever has. ... "There were a lot of back pins today, so it was hard to get the ball to stay up on those back shelves and get yourself to fly them all the way back there." Top-ranked Inbee Park, the defending champion who is making her first start of the year, was 2 under after a 71. Second-ranked Suzann Pettersen and No. 4 Lydia Ko also were 2 under. Pettersen had a 73 and the 16-year-old Ko shot 70. ' ' '  |
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