Righthander Kevin Correia will bring his strike-throwing, ground ball inducing act to the Rangers today as the teams wrap up a four-game series at Target Field.
The Twins beat the Rangers 7-2 yesterday in front of 37,503 fans, their first win over them at Target Field since June 12, 2011, snapping a five‐game losing streak vs. Texas at home.
Yesterday's attendance was the largest non‐Opening Day crowd since August 14, 2012 vs. Detroit (37,544). Another large crowd must be expected today because they switched over to cash only at the parking ramps around 9 this morning.
Trevor Plouffe is on the bench for a second straight game after a poor defensive performance on Friday (the .226 batting average probably isn't helping either). Gardy wanted to get Jamey Carroll into the game anyway. ``I know it's tough coming off the bench and facing (Alexi Ogando) but Jamey's got a short swing and you're going to need a short swing against this guy," he said. Ogando has a mid-90's fastball, which should make for some nice battles today.
The Twins already were hearing good things about righthander Kyle Gibson, but Gibson make them take notice again on Saturday when he tossed 62/3 innings of shutout ball for Class AAA Rochester. He allowed just four baserunners (two hits, two walks) while striking out seven.
Rangers
1, Ian Kinsler, 2B
2. Elvis Andrus, SS
3. Lance Berkman, DH
4. Adrian Beltre, 3B
5. A.J., C
6. Nelson Cruz, RF
7. David Murphy, LF
8. Mitch Moreland, 1B
9. Leonys Martin, CF
Pitching: Alexi Ogando, RHP
