Scott Baker couldn't even take a peek at the Twins dugout while he was on the mound. Too many people he knew over there.

"I made a point not to look in the dugout,'' he said. "Of course a lot of great memories and there's still some guys here that I really enjoyed playing with throughout the years. It was fun. Regardless of the results, I was going to make the most of it."

He focused on the 60 feet, 6 inches in front of him. And besides a home run by Oswaldo Arcia and a couple doubles, Baker looked like his old self.

Baker spent seven seasons with the Twins, going 63-48 with a 4.15 ERA. Baker, 32, has had trouble getting his career on track since having Tommy John surgery in April of 2012. Baker had just been out on the field Tuesday, chatting with Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, when the Rangers decided to start him.

"The ball jumped out of his hand pretty good And we're pretty proud of that guy," Gardenhire said. "He came from this organization and is one of our guys, and he is still hanging in there. He's had some pretty big surgeries, and he's still hanging in there and he pitched well against us."

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