ARLINGTON, Texas (AP)—Minnesota Twins starter Scott Baker(notes) had already thrown 97 pitches on a hot night in Texas. That was enough for the right-hander in only his second game back from the disabled list.
Just not quite enough for another victory.
Baker, who had been 6-1 with a 1.50 ERA his previous seven starts, allowed two runs over seven innings in a 4-1 loss to the Rangers on Thursday night, when he was outdone by Texas starter Matt Harrison(notes).
“I felt I got enough work in for the day,” Baker said. “If I felt great, I would have asked to go back out there. But given the situation, we’re still trying to be smart about this. Given the conditions, I was pretty content with where I was at.”
Baker (8-6) struck out four with no walks against the AL West-leading Rangers. Five days earlier, he threw five scoreless innings in a win against Detroit in his first game back from a stint on the disabled list because of a right flexor strain.
The only run-scoring hits Baker allowed were RBI singles to Michael Young(notes) and Chris Davis(notes).
“Both starters were very good tonight. Bake was fantastic and their young man was really good. He had all his pitches working and we only had a couple of opportunities. He pretty much shut us down,” manager Ron Gardenhire said. “(Baker) said he felt all right. We’re still watching the arm and making sure everything’s OK, but he hung in there and felt all right.”
Harrison (9-7) allowed one run over 7 1-3 innings with two strikeouts and a walk. The left-hander won all three of his decisions in his five starts this month with a 2.04 ERA.
Harrison was gone after his only walk, to Joe Mauer(notes) with one out in the eighth. Yoshinori Tateyama(notes) and Arthur Rhodes(notes) retired the only batters they faced before Neftali Feliz(notes) took over and worked a perfect ninth for his 21st save in 26 chances.
Minnesota had won two straight over the Rangers after losing the opener 20-6 Monday night when Texas had the most runs and hits (27) in the majors this season.
The Twins scored twice in the ninth inning off Feliz on Tuesday night for a 9-8 win before a 7-2 victory Wednesday night.
“It was a tough loss, but at the same time we showed some courage being able to come back after first night,” Michael Cuddyer(notes) of the Twins said. “To come back and split the series against the team with the best home record in the American League, that was good.”
In the aftermath of Tuesday night’s blown save, manager Ron Washington said he wanted to see more fire from Feliz, who had also given up a ninth-inning run in the blowout opener. The hard-throwing right-hander already has two more blown opportunities than all of last season, when he set a major league rookie record with 40 saves as the Rangers went to their first World Series.
On Thursday night, Feliz struck out Jim Thome(notes) and got Danny Valencia(notes) on a popup before Delmon Young(notes) grounded out to end the game.
“He was good, he threw the ball well, threw it over the plate,” Washington said. “He probably responded because he’s a competitor.”
Josh Hamilton(notes) had three hits for Texas, including a two-out triple in the ninth. Young was intentionally walked before Nelson Cruz(notes) reached on a throwing error by third baseman Valencia that allowed Hamilton to score. Mitch Moreland(notes) then had an RBI single.
Tateyama struck out Cuddyer, who already had two hits in the game and was hitting .500 (14 for 28) against the Rangers this season. Rhodes then struck out Jason Kubel(notes), who had homered off the left-hander in the series.
“Besides the first game, we played some good quality baseball but we came up a little short. They’re a tough team,” Baker said. “They’re the team to beat, based on the teams we’ve faced. They have a very potent lineup and they’re pitching well. That’s a tough combination.”
Notes: Minnesota won the season series 5-3, and is 18-10 against Texas since the start of the 2009 season. … Twins 2B Alexi Casilla(notes) was placed on the 15-day disabled list Thursday night with a right hamstring strain. The Twins recalled INF Luke Hughes(notes) from Triple-A Rochester, and he was in Texas before the end of the game. Casilla is expected to be out two to three weeks. Matt Tobert, recalled from Rochester earlier Thursday, started at second base. … Twins CF Denard Span(notes), out since June 9 with a concussion, continues rehab at Triple-A. Gardenhire said Span will need several full games before he is ready to be activated.
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