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Thursday, Jun. 22 8:35pm ET
Huskey scampers home on rundown | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- Butch Huskey waited for just the right moment, then headed home in an all-out sprint. Huskey scored from second as teammate Denny Hocking was caught in a rundown in the ninth inning, lifting the Minnesota Twins over the Texas Rangers 3-2 Thursday night. Huskey doubled off Tim Crabtree (1-4) leading off the ninth before Hocking, who pinch-hit for Jason Maxwell, walked. Chad Moeller grounded to second base and Hocking avoided the tag of Frank Catalanotto, who threw to first to retire Moeller. Hocking was caught in a rundown between Rangers first baseman Rafael Palmeiro and shortstop Royce Clayton. After Palmeiro chased Hocking toward second, Palmeiro threw to Clayton. Huskey hit third just as Clayton received the throw, and once Huskey saw Clayton relay back to Palmeiro, he alertly took off for home. Huskey beat Palmeiro's throw home by a step and slid under Ivan Rodriguez's tag for the game-winner. "You work on that in spring training," Huskey said. "I just had to make sure Royce gave the ball up. Once he released the ball, I knew it was going to be bang-bang, so I had to slide outside the tag." LaTroy Hawkins (2-2) retired the last batter in the eighth, and Eddie Guardado got one out in the ninth. Bob Wells got the last two outs with runners on the corners for his fourth save in six opportunities. "I was shaking hands in the dugout and I said, 'Man, there's a lot of sweaty palms in here,"' Twins manager Tom Kelly said. "Dennis did a good job of avoiding the tag at second base and Butch did a good job of sliding." The Twins avoided a three-game sweep by the Rangers, who won two straight after a dismal 1-8 road trip. The game turned into a surprise pitching duel when two emergency starters took a 2-2 game into the eighth. Texas starter Matt Perisho and Minnesota's Joe Mays were forced into duty because of injuries to both scheduled starters. Perisho, who gave up five hits and two runs in seven innings, replaced scheduled starter Darren Oliver, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday because of weakness in his left shoulder. Perisho walked two and struck out four. "I felt like I did my job," Perisho said. "We made them earn their runs." Mays held the Rangers to two runs on eight hits before he was replaced by Travis Miller at the start of the eighth. Mays was pushed up in the rotation when scheduled starter Eric Milton was hit in the left hand -- his pitching hand -- Tuesday while standing in the outfield during in batting practice. Mays walked two and struck out four. The Rangers took a 2-1 lead on Rodriguez's 23rd home run, an opposite-field, 391-foot shot in the fifth inning. Rodriguez, the 1999 AL MVP, is second in the league in homers. He trails Toronto's Carlos Delgado, who has 25. The Twins answered in the sixth when Corey Koskie's bunt single scored Matt Lawton from third. Lawton singled to start the inning and moved to third on two infield groundouts. Ron Coomer's second-inning home run to left, his ninth of the year, gave the Twins a 1-0 lead. The right-handed first baseman is 7-for-10 with three RBIs in his career against Perisho. The Rangers tied it 1-1 in the third when Palmeiro singled home Catalanotto, who singled, stole second and reached third on a throwing error by Twins rookie catcher Moeller. Game notesPerisho's seven innings were a career high. He went 6 1/3 twice previously. ... Rangers rookie 3B Mike Lamb was 2-for-4, his 13th multihit game. He has a six-game hitting streak, including four multihit games. ... Moeller recorded his first major league hit with a single in the third inning. He made his major league debut Wednesday after being called up from Triple-A Salt Lake City. ... Rangers OF Dave Martinez recorded his second straight hit with a line-drive single in the second inning, after breaking an 0-for-20 slump Wednesday with a two-run double in the fifth inning. Martinez's double Wednesday was the game-winner. ... Texas plays 12 of its next 15 games at home before the All-Star break. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Minnesota Clubhouse Texas Clubhouse RECAPS Boston 4 NY Yankees 2
Minnesota 3
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